4 NBA veterans doing too much for their rebuilding teams

2. Eric Gordon — Houston Rockets

It is time. It must be time. Right? Eric Gordon has been in the trade rumor mill for years now but Houston has never found a suitor with an offer good enough for their liking. Gordon, meanwhile, has just kept putting up numbers without remorse in Texas.

Gordon is playing basketball for the Houston Rockets organization for the seventh season this year. He arrived in 2017 with James Harden already fully established as the face of the franchise and in the golden, contending years of those Beard-led Rockets. He took on larger roles in terms of starting games as the years passed but by the 2020 season he was demoted to Houston’s pine.

Last year, though, Gordon was thrust into 46 starts (in the 57 total games appeared in) and he’s been in the starting unit of the Rockets in all of the 17 games he’s played this season through Tuesday. One thing is clear here, and it is that Houston is most definitely not counting on Gordon for the future, or at least they shouldn’t considering he’s already 34 years old.

The Rockets have drafted Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. in the past two drafts with the No. 2 and the No. 3 overall picks respectively. Gordon might still have it in him and help the Rockets win one or five games here and there, but he’s clearly not aligning with the future of the team.

It’s hard to see any contender not wanting to add a heater like Gordon’s been for a long time now. Even more, in a year in which Gordon is only scoring 12.9 points per game, he’s contributing more than two rebounds and assists per contest while also turning the ball over fewer than two times a night. Only 19 players are doing that in the NBA this year while also hitting two or more 3-point shots per game.