Los Angeles Lakers: 1 potential trade target from each non-playoff team
By Jason Reed
Houston Rockets: Eric Gordon
The Houston Rockets should be trading every asset they have this offseason. The rebuild officially started when James Harden was traded and while they have talented players in Christian Wood and John Wall, this is not a team that is going to compete, even with a good offseason.
Eric Gordon is one of the assets that the Rockets should absolutely be trading this offseason. Gordon has been a great member of the Rockets and it is only fair that the team trades him to a team that can contend.
That team is the Lakers.
Gordon’s contract is a big one to take on. The veteran guard is set to make over $18 million next season and over $19 million the following season. However, the three-year deal is not fully guaranteed in year three, so the Lakers do have an early out if need be.
The hope is that the Lakers don’t need that out and that Gordon continues to ball out. Last season Gordon averaged 17.8 points per game. His shooting was inefficient, but he has proven in the past that he can be a reliable veteran role player on a contending team.
There are two routes the Los Angeles Lakers could go in a trade. They could trade Kyle Kuzma, future draft capital (likely second-rounder) and Marc Gasol. This would be the route fi the Lakers were trying to get Gasol off the books to open up the center position.
Or, the team could agree to a sign-and-trade with Dennis Schroder on top of a future second-rounder. Houston is the perfect place for Schroder to play and increase his personal value for the future and Houston could be interested in turning three years of Gordon into one year of Schroder.