I don’t see how he could be happy. A season or two of losing is one thing. This is his career. To be the last man standing for so much longer after everyone else has moved on would be add to that as well. I am not saying I feel sorry for him. He is getting compensation galore. I am saying I can understand how he would be extremely frustrated at this point.
There is actually a reason to not trade Gordon, multiple actually. 1.) Maybe just nobody wants him, even for free. 2.) Someone does, but will only give you longer money back 3.) The offseason presents some opportunities to make some drastic moves, specifically if you want to go win now, and add multiple high salary guys to your team. You could free up ~55m in cap and then theoretically use the KPJ and Gordon salaries to trade for another star (George / Siakim). So lets can the, trade Gordon or Stone is fired nonsense. Let the man build his team the way he wants too, and judge then, not this incremental judgement bullshit.
There are reasons he should not be traded. There are NO reasons he should ever play another minute as a Rocket. If a potential trade involving Gordon brings back salary that interferes with your cap space this offseason - it's a no go unless you are getting a lottery pick in return and that's not happening. In that case, you are better off buying him out and cutting him. A late first round pick isn't worth sacrificing $20m in cap space this offseason.
I would be okay with him playing if he were acting as a mentor (in a good way) and actively helping the young folks (the whole rest of the team). But if he is going to sulk or only give 50%, than I agree with you.
Not news, but EG is obviously being shopped heavily and I think he'll get traded, but it's important to keep that flexibility for this offseason too. Worst case is we don't trade EG and cut him before his contract gets guaranteed next year. We can have almost $60M in cap room by standing pat. If we can trade him for an expiring contract and picks, IMO it's a no brainer. This offseason is going to be HUGE for us. Obviously we have the draft, but we're going to be very active in free agency as well. They are going to spend all of their cap space and target big names. I don't necessarily love the FA class, but I think they want a top PG. The rumor about Harden coming back has real legs to it. Kyrie is a target, as polarizing as that might be. D’Angelo Russell will be another name you hear. Fred VanVleet if he doesn't sign an extension. If we can turn that cap space into a legit starting PG and SF, while letting Green, Smith, and Sengun grow - we've got a bright future.
You don’t trade Gordon for trash + salaries to match. I don’t think there’s any reason for a trade at this point. The season is a lost cost and you let Gordon walk this off season if the alternative is taking bench players and dead weight salaries.
You get him off the roster no matter what he is blocking development. Losing Eric Gordon is addition by subtraction at this point. He is a net negative on this team. DD
Put me in the desperate to move him camp. I expect something for EG, but I don’t expect much. I believe the handling of the EG situation and loss of value proposition is a very obvious and objective criticism of Stone. I’d also like to see a consolidation trade.
Seeing as Lonzo Ball might be a perfect fit for our team. Would y'all trade Gordon for him Straight up with the injury concern? Wondering if the bulls want to dump his contract.
I would say I am a bit worried about "spending all the cap space" in a potential weak FA crop. DLO? Hell no. If the rumor of Harden coming back has REAL LEGS as you say, then he is the best FA on the market to spend that money on when you look at the other names.
