The biggest story around the Los Angeles Lakers right now is an impending Kyrie Irving trade. While an Irving trade does seem like it is just a matter of time, as we learn all the time in the NBA, nothing is guaranteed.
Thus, the Lakers are going to have to come up with backup plans if the team cannot trade for Irving. Perhaps the biggest backup plan is a potential deal with the Indiana Pacers that includes Russell Westbrook. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the two sides are engaged in discussions.
That is not the only potential backup plan for the Lakers. Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today, McMenamin also named-dropped Eric Gordon as a potential contingency plan for the Lakers is they are not able to trade for Kyrie Irving.
Gordon is a big-name veteran who has been floating around the trade market all offseason. While there are several teams that are potentially interested in Gordon, the former Sixth Man of the Year does not have a lot of value to LA. In fact, trading for him would be a disaster for LA.
Why the Los Angeles Lakers should stay far away from Eric Gordon:
First of all, an Eric Gordon trade would not involve Russell Westbrook. If the Lakers were to trade for Gordon the package would likely be Talen Horton-Tucker and a protected first-round pick. That is a lot but that is the market for Gordon right now with several teams interested.
Los Angeles seems to be getting cold feet in trading a first-round pick to get Westbrook out of LA. Do you really think they are going to be willing to trade a first for Gordon? If so, it would be a fireable offense for Rob Pelinka.
Gordon simply is not that valuable as a role player at his age. NBA pundits are looking at his shooting percentage from three last season as he played on a horrible Rockets team with no real pressure. Overall, Gordon is not that valuable of a player.
First of all, historically, he has not been as good from three. Last season truly was an outlier as he has shot under 36% from three in his last five seasons combined (with his great shooting season last year).
Plus, Gordon is not someone who can create his own shot. He is an off-ball three-point shooter. That is fine, but if you are going to be that one-dimensional of an offensive player you have to add value on the other end.
Gordon does not add that value. He is an undersized guard who has 33-year-old knees and plays bad defense. Of the 177 players to play 1,500 or more minutes last season, Gordon’s -2.2 Defensive Box Plus/Minus ranked 175th.
What does Gordon bring to the team that Avery Bradley couldn’t bring last season? Gordon is viewed more favorably in the league but we see this all the time. The NBA world has not caught up to the new reality for Gordon. The same exact thing happened with Russell Westbrook.
NBA insider suggests LeBron James is trying to play Lakers GM again
ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst suggests LeBron James is trying to play Lakers general manager again regarding the team's pursuit of Kyrie Irving.
And we all know how bad that Russell Westbrook trade ended up being for the Los Angeles Lakers.