Eric Gordon out for foreseeable future with groin strain

Rockets guard Eric Gordon is expected to miss a month or more with a groin strain he suffered against the Kings, likely putting any trade speculation to bed.

After sitting out Friday’s game, Eric Gordon isn’t going to be back any time soon for the Houston Rockets.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Gordon suffered a “moderate groin strain” and will miss 4-6 weeks.

That timetable should keep Gordon out at least through the start of April, including 15 games. If his recovery is on the longer side, he could be out until the end of the month.

Eric Gordon’s injury should scupper trade potential for Houston

The injury’s timing was less-than-ideal for the Rockets, who were expected to explore trades for the 32-year-old guard. Wojnarowski reported early in March that Gordon was already drawing “a great deal” of trade interest from around the league.

Gordon had a down year in 2019-20, but the veteran improved in just about every measure so far this season. While his availability has still been a problem with eight missed games before this latest injury, his scoring average for the season is 17.8 points per game. His 3-point shooting percentage (32.9 percent) remains a worry, though he has dialed back his attempts in that regard. He is also averaging 2.6 assists per game.

Gordon’s absence will also make it that much harder for the Rockets to end their embarrassing 15-game losing streak, their longest since 2001. Friday’s loss to the Jazz featured just nine healthy Houston players. John Wall, Victor Oladopo and Christian Wood were out along with Gordon.

If the idea is to blow it up and rebuild, then the Rockets are in a good place to do that with hopes of locking in a lottery pick. However, they probably would have preferred to do that with something back in exchange for Gordon.