Now that the NBA deal has settled, for the Rockets, a big seller in the trading market, they just sent away Theis, and there are still many fans who are disappointed that the team did not dispose of veteran Gordon.
Remember that before the end of the trading day, the Rockets have been very clear about the asking price for Gordon, at least a first-round pick, otherwise it is not discussed. In fact, the Rockets have indeed received such an offer, according to the US media reports, the Rockets received an offer from Gordon for the first round of the draft in 2022, but the Rockets have 2 first rounds in 2022, and in 2021 the team also selected 4 rookies, the Rockets do not want these young people to risk harming their development, so Stone would rather wait until the summer to operate. The Rockets' general manager confirmed that earlier in a press conference, with Stone talking about why he didn't trade Gordon, saying, "We did get some offers for the trades for Eric Gordon and Christian Wood. But we don't trade for the sake of trading, and even if we get a good offer, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll trade. ”
To be honest, Stone's rejection of this first-round offer is still very wise, after all, the Rockets are in the rebuilding stage, the team has a lot of young players to develop, if only in exchange for a upcoming 2022 first round, then the team does not have the resources to develop so many young players. Instead of this, it is better to choose to keep Gordon, after all, Gordon does not have much influence on the current lineup of the Rockets, on the contrary, he can also play a role in passing the help. After the trade day close, the team's backcourt double-core Porter Jr. and Green both talked about Gordon, and Porter Jr. said: "I can't say how much I want him to stay, if it does trade, I'll be sad, we're glad the trade didn't happen, we want him to stay in the team as long as possible." Green also said: "He's been in the team for a long time, he has a lot of experience, he's starting to open up to us and I'm starting to learn more from him. ”
So at this stage, Gordon's stay on the team is still of great help to the Rockets, of course, this does not mean that Stone does not want to trade Gordon, the reason why he is now rejecting a first-round offer to keep Gordon is because he is in the next big game. The summer of 2022 is not only a small draft year, and with the Harden Simmons trade settled, the big stars who can move in the offseason of 2022 are also pitiful, only the Rockets can ensure that Gordon is healthy in the next season, and has a good data performance, then he will definitely be chased by many teams, at that time Gordon's contract is only 2 years left, and the final year is still non-guaranteed, when Stone opens his mouth to ask for a first round and a second round. In addition to being able to exchange Gordon for draft picks, Stone can also make up for the team's lineup.
In terms of the interests of the team, it is a very wise choice for Stone not to trade Gordon before the end of the trading day, of course, this is not the case for Gordon, but Gordon is still very professional, after all, the Rockets treat him not thin, give him a very big contract extension, this is also a kind of return, after all, it is not bad for half a year...