Knicks were right to not meet high asking price for veteran shooting guard
The New York Knicks are reportedly one of the most active teams on the trade market, which doesn’t come as a surprise. Evan Fournier hasn’t played in over a month and Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish were excluded from Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation.
Those three aforementioned players seem to be the three likeliest players to be traded, but it’s also been reported that the Knicks have been listening to offers for Immanuel Quickley. With the Feb. 9 trade deadline being less than two months away, New York is a team to keep an eye on.
And now, fans know one player that the Knicks were interested in acquiring, although the front office wasn’t willing to meet the first-round pick asking price. According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, New York looked into trading for Eric Gordon before Dec. 9.
"New York appeared eager to find a deal before Dec. 9, sources told Yahoo Sports, the two-month deadline for teams to acquire a player via trade and still be able to aggregate that player’s salary into a future deal before the trade buzzer sounds in February. Eric Gordon was one of the early targets for New York, sources said, although clearly no deal came to fruition."
Knicks reportedly connected with Rockets about a potential Eric Gordon trade
It should come as no surprise that Eric Gordon signed with CAA in October and is represented by Aaron Mintz. But based on what Jake Fischer reported, New York didn’t seem interested in keeping Gordon around long-term if the front office was able to get him via trade.
At the age of 33 (soon to be 34 on Dec. 25), Gordon’s averaging a career-low 12.1 points while shooting 43.4% from the field and 34.7% from three. The Knicks have a logjam at the guard position, and even if they do move on from Rose and Fournier, New York doesn’t have a need for Gordon. The veteran shooting guard is on the decline and wouldn’t do much for the Knicks on the offensive end. Not to mention, he isn’t a good defender.
Gordon is making $19.6 million this season and has a non-guaranteed salary of $20.9 million in 2023-24. Houston has stuck with its asking price of a first-round pick in exchange for the veteran, which is something that New York’s front office was wise to not give up.
The bottom line is that Eric Gordon is past his prime and wouldn’t move the needle at all for the Knicks. He has playoff experience and with New York currently sitting at No. 6 in the East, he might prove to be valuable in the postseason, but he certainly isn’t a player that the front office should be prioritizing in a trade. Thanks, but no thanks.
