Report: Hornets will match any offer for Eric Gordon

[Big Bid'Ness]

Fromrobasketballtalk

One of the ways people found to discredit the Hornets’ trade of Chris Paul to the Clippers (as opposed to trading him to the Lakers for three old guys, one of whom is a space cadet) was the question of Eric Gordon‘s free agency. Either he wasn’t good enough as a return trade piece, or if he was, the Hornets wouldn’t be able to keep him in restricted free agency. Which is a little nuts.

First off, players, especially stars, almost always re-sign with their team coming off their rookie contract. The money and years is pivotal for establishing the raise structure and financial security. It’s just what’s done. It’s exceptionally rare that a quality player with significant money on the table walks away from the extra year and raise structure he gets from re-signing.

Second, the Hornets have the ability to match in restricted free agency. From there it just comes down to whether his injury history indicates that there would be a reason not to match. The New Orleans Times Picayune reports that that amount is apparently “more money than anything, ever” and that anything below that, the Hornets are matching and keeping the shooting guard.

But all indications point toward the Hornets making a concerted effort to re-sign their restricted free agent, shooting guard Eric Gordon.

New Orleans appears ready to match any offer Gordon might get on the open market, even if means extending him a maximum-money contract of five years worth $80 million.

via Trade gives New Orleans Hornets salary cap room for free-agent shopping | NOLA.com.

Honestly, given his injury history and everyone’s assurance that the Hornets will match, especially after clearing off that dead weight from their cap in the trade with Washington (thanks, Wiz! Enjoy Trevor Ariza‘s 3-point percentage!), it’s likely that the Hornets get a break on him. They may not have to put the full max down for him. If so, great. If not, they’ve got a star shooting guard to pair with Anthony Davis and whoever they get with the No. 10.

That’s a foundation you can build on. This isn’t rocket science. It’s nice to talk about Indiana or whatever, but the most likely scenario in all circumstances is Gordon playing in the green and gold next year. He’s not going anywhere.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

:like: