Rockets eye first-round draft pick in trade for surging Eric Gordon

After Sunday’s 118-112 victory (box score) in Sacramento, the young Houston Rockets have suddenly won two of their last three games. But the biggest reason for the mini-surge is a key veteran.

In those three games, veteran guard Eric Gordon is scoring 20.7 points in 31.0 minutes, including red-hot shooting numbers of 70.0% overall and 63.2% on 3-pointers. He’s averaged 4.0 rebounds, as well.

Best of all, Gordon clearly makes an impact on the defensive end, too. Immediately after pushing Houston’s lead to four on Sunday with a tough driving layup, Gordon got the stop by forcing a difficult shot in a one-on-one situation — effectively ending the game.

The most telling stat of all, as it pertains to Gordon’s two-way dominance? The Rockets were +26 in the 32 minutes that he was on the court Sunday, and -20 in the 16 minutes that he was on the bench.

Yet, even with the recent uptick in team play, the Rockets (13-32) do still sit at the bottom of the Western Conference. Clearly, developing young players like 19-year-old rookies Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun is the biggest priority, since Houston isn’t ready to consistently win now. Thus, a 33-year-old Gordon isn’t an ideal fit for general manager Rafael Stone when it comes to roster construction, since he’ll likely be past his prime when the Rockets are next able to make a legitimate playoff push.

Another reason is that Gordon’s strong season could make this the opportune time for Stone to maximize his trade return. At 50.5% overall and 45.5% on 3-pointers, Gordon is having the best shooting year of his career, and he would clearly help a number of playoff teams and 2021-22 title contenders who need better two-way wing production.

Here’s what Michael Scotto of HoopsHype is hearing:

Because Gordon is also under contract for the 2022-23 season, the Rockets don’t have to trade him by the Feb. 10 trade deadline. In theory, they could explore the market in the 2022 offseason, as well.

But in practice, it seems unlikely. At this stage of his career, it’s hard to imagine Gordon having any more value than he does right now. Waiting until the offseason could risk some sort of injury or production setback as the 2021-22 year concludes, and Gordon will be even older.

Thus, the most likely outcome is Stone canvassing the market now for the best available deal and executing it by Feb. 10 — and the latest surge by Gordon certainly can’t hurt the general manager’s leverage in talks.

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