Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the Clippers would waive Eric Gordon by the 12 AM ET 6/28 deadline, and shortly after the Clippers gave the official announcement.

This is a surprise, of sorts, for two reasons. First, the Clippers had mentioned numerous times how much they liked Eric Gordon – after all, they traded for him just four months ago, and shortly thereafter moved him into the starting lineup. While they didn’t give up a ton for Gordon, they traded fan favorite Luke Kennard (nearly a decade younger) and moved back ultimately 10 spots in the first round (though they did pick up a few second round picks) to get him. Second, his massive non-guaranteed $21M contract seemed useful as an expiring as a trade chip, whether before the guarantee date for a team looking for quick savings, or later for a team trying to get off long-term money.

However, I don’t mind the Clippers waiving Gordon in terms of their actual roster for next season. He’s a fine rotation player, with great shooting and capable enough ball-handling and defense. But he’s also 35, has been in decline for years, and the Clippers have younger, more talented, and frankly better guards who could be getting those minutes in Bones Hyland and Terance Mann. I would much rather those guys get minutes next year and have somewhat less depth than go through a repeat of 2023.

While fans should not care about this, getting off of Eric Gordon’s $21M deal will save Steve Ballmer a whopping $110M in luxury tax payments next year. It also pushes them to just over the Second Apron in the CBA – with a few minor deals, they could get under, and gain access to the non-taxpayer Mid Level Exception ($5M) to try to bolster their roster.

Really, if the Clippers didn’t think they could get a deal for Gordon, waiving him to mitigate the guard roster jam, free minutes for young guys, generate savings, and get closer to at least minimal cap flexibility makes sense. This particular move is not the issue (though I do feel like they could have gotten something in trade).

Instead, the blame should be on the front office for the Gordon trade at all. While Gordon was a better “fit” on the 2023 roster over Luke Kennard, he was clearly not close to a game-changer at this point in his career, and the Clippers gave up a younger player and moved down a real amount in the draft for 27 mediocre games in a lost season. He was a questionable target due to his duplicative-ness with Norm Powell and his age on a roster screaming for youth, and just four months later, the Clippers have moved on. I didn’t hate the deal at the time as much, but in hindsight it’s a big ole F.

If the Clippers are looking for a quieter summer, all that might remain is a salary dump of Marcus Morris and then re-signing of Russell Westbrook and Mason Plumlee. Hopefully the Clippers do a little more than that, but not flipping Gordon’s expiring in a bigger deal throws some doubt on that.

While I won’t miss Eric Gordon on the court much at all, I do hope he makes his way to a contender (I’m sure he will) to make another run at a ring.

Clippers Waive Eric Gordon for Savings, Flexibility
Robert Flom

Our exit interview of the 2023 Clippers series continues with Eric Gordon, who the Clippers traded for at the deadline in exchange for John Wall and Luke Kennard along with some pick swaps.

Basic Information

Height: 6’3

Weight: 215 pounds

Position: Shooting Guard

Age: 34

Years in NBA: 15

Key Regular Season Stats (for Clippers): 11.0 points, 2.1 assists, 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 1.0 turnovers in 24.9 minutes per game across 22 games played (11 starts) on 46.3/42.3/84.2 (1.7 FTA attempts) shooting splits (62.9 True Shooting)

Postseason Stats: 10.2 points, 2.6 assists, 1.4 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.8 turnovers in 29.8 minutes per game across 5 games played (all starts) on 40.9/34.5/83.3 (1.2 FTA attempts) shooting splits (54.7 True Shooting)

Expectations

When the Clippers traded for Eric Gordon mid-season, effectively replacing both Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard, the expectation was that he would be a key bench player for them, replacing those two aforementioned guards’ minutes and freeing up more minutes for Terance Mann and bigger players. With a very long track record in the NBA, there was no mystery with Eric Gordon and what he would offer the 2023 Clippers – high volume, good efficiency three-point shooting with capabilities out to 30 feet, solid effort on defense, and some tertiary ball-handling capabilities.

Reality

Like so many things this year for the 2023 Clippers, the Eric Gordon trade did not quite go to plan. Gordon ended up starting the last 16 games of the season for the Clips, including all five playoff appearances, due to Russell Westbrook starting and Paul George’s injury. Gordon was on fire from three in the regular season, hitting 42.3% of his attempts on a decent volume and helping to space the floor, as predicted. However, when you look at his numbers, they look very, very similar to Luke Kennard’s – higher volume scoring, and slightly more free throws, but not a huge difference. Still, Gordon was very helpful in the regular season, especially when Norm Powell was out and he took on the main scoring bench guard role.

In the playoffs, the Clippers had to rely on Gordon even more, as not only was Paul George out, but of course Kawhi Leonard was as well after the first two games. Unfortunately, Gordon was not really able to rise to the occasion, as despite playing five more minutes per game compared to the regular season, his scoring actually went down, as did his efficiency (significantly). It’s hard to blame Gordon, as the entire Clippers’ roster was punching above their weight, and he was also the primary defender on Kevin Durant. Still, it was a bit of a disappointing showing for Gordon, who didn’t contribute much offensively outside of a handful of threes and only got to the line six times across the series.

Overall, as many of us predicted, Gordon was fine for the Clippers. He played hard, his shooting was legitimately valuable on its own merits and because of how it stretched the defense, and he offered at least a bit more rim pressure and ballhandling than Luke Kennard. But the predictions rang true in other ways, which is that he played into Ty Lue’s obsession with guards, resulting in more end-of-season four-guard units. And, while Gordon played his heart out on defense, he was ultimately too small to really bother Durant or Devin Booker in the playoffs. There also wasn’t much additional scoring outside of the three-point shooting, with very few shots at the rim. So, if the Clippers were hoping for a real upgrade in downhill scoring compared to Kennard or even Reggie Jackson, they were disappointed. Eric Gordon is certainly still an NBA rotation player, but was he really the kind of player they should have targeted at the deadline? Probably not.

Future with Clippers

Eric Gordon is an interesting spot, as his $20,917,902 salary for the 2023-2024 season with the Clippers is non-guaranteed up until June 28, when it becomes fully guaranteed. That makes his contract prime trade bait – the Clippers can ship him to a team that wants to clear some room in the knowledge that team can waive him and clear cap space. By doing so, the Clippers themselves could create room, whether by taking back a lot less in salary, or by moving Gordon to a team which has enough room to take him in without sending anything back at all (the Clippers would have to attach some minor assets for this type of move). Lucas already wrote a lot about the cap and second apron stuff, so no need to rehash that in depth, but if the Clippers want to get under that second apron, they basically must get rid of Gordon.

However, there’s no guarantee that the Clippers will move on from Gordon at all. While he didn’t offer much in the way of “juice”, his shooting was still valuable, and he had the trust of Ty Lue from the start. If Ty Lue is back, it’s quite possible that Gordon is as well to provide spacing and shooting around the Kawhi-PG duo. It’s probably most likely that he’s moved due to his contract, the Clippers’ cap situation, and their need to get younger, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he was still on their roster next year.

2023 Clippers Season Exit Interview: Eric Gordon
Robert Flom

One of the Clippers’ three moves at the trade deadline was obtaining former Clipper Eric Gordon. We already did a roundtable with overall thoughts on the deal, but here’s a bit more thorough of a breakdown of who Eric Gordon is in 2023 – and what he adds to the Clippers.

Basic Information

Height: 6’3

Weight: 216 pounds

Position: Shooting guard

Age: 34

Years in NBA: 15

2023 Stats: 13.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 0.6 steals in 30.2 minutes per game across 47 games played on 42.9% shooting (48.4% on twos, 34.7% on threes on 5.2 attempts) and 81.5% from the line (2.9 attempts)

Strengths

Shooting: Eric Gordon’s biggest strength as an NBA player is his three-ball. For his career, Gordon is a 36.9% shooter from deep on 6.2 attempts per game – a good percentage on high volume. This year, Gordon’s numbers are down slightly, to 34.7% on 5.2 attempts, but he’s also playing for a bad team with no real offensive flow. One figures his shooting will perk up a bit getting more open looks on the Clippers. Moreover, Gordon is not just a catch-and-shoot guy – he takes three off the bounce, and he does them from very long-range. Consider that this season, 93.2% of Luke Kennard’s 3s were assisted. Reggie Jackson was a bit lower, at 85.7%. Well, EG was at 76.5% of threes being assisted – still the vast majority, but clearly more capable of creating threes for himself than Luke or Reggie.

Driving: Eric Gordon is also a potent slasher, though not as much as he used to be. This season, 40% of his points have come in the paint, and 17.8% from the free throw line, compared to 39.6% and 10.8% from Reggie and 19.7% and 6.9% from Luke. Per basketball reference, nearly 44% of Eric’s shots have come from 0-10 feet from the rim, compred to 36% from Reggie and 18% from Luke. Those aren’t insanely high numbers, but for a team in the Clippers that has really struggled getting downhill this season, Gordon adds a bit more there compared to the Clippers who previously manned the bench guard roles.

Heft on Defense: While Eric is not tall, he’s a very, very strong dude, which has helped him on offense in driving to the basket, and also on defense. He’s certainly not an option against big men or much taller wings, but he’s an ok option on a lot of wings. That switchability is something the Clippers value defensively, and is something else Eric brings that Reggie and Luke did not.

Weaknesses

Rebounding: Eric Gordon is one of the worst rebounders in the NBA. No, seriously. Of 193 NBA players who have played at least 1,000 minutes this season, Gordon ranks dead last in total rebound rate (% of rebounds collected of all available when on the court) at 3.7%. The next lowest is Lonnie Walker at 4.2% (a legit gap considering the sample size). And it’s not just a one-off – Gordon’s career rate is 4.2%. Despite not being tiny, and possessing plus athleticism for much of his career, Gordon just can’t rebound. Being a bad rebounder is always a negative, but it makes Gordon harder to fit into the Clippers’ small ball lineups – he should be tethered to one of Ivica Zubac or Mason Plumlee (who rank 11^th and 18^th respectively in TRB%). I’d bet one of those two guys is usually on the floor, so maybe it’s not that big a deal, but it is something to watch for.

Playmaking: A lot has been made about the Clippers’ lack of a traditional point guard, and while I think that specific complaint is off the mark, more playmaking would be welcome. Well, that’s not really Eric Gordon’s forte. He’s averaged 2.9 assists this year and hasn’t cracked 3 per game since back in 2015 in New Orleans. While Gordon can certainly make simple reads and help initiate the Clippers’ drive and kick game, he’s not going to be passing anybody open or running a ton of pick and rolls either. If the Clippers ask him to be a primary ball-handler, it won’t end well. Secondary? Still probably not ideal. Tertiary (which I think is likely in most lineups), and they should be cooking offensively. I wish they’d gotten a better passer (I really have talked myself into Mike Conley being a great fit), but such is life.

General Defense: Despite what I said above about Gordon’s strength and being able to defend larger players, he is, overall, a strongly negative defender. Every single all-in-one stats has him there: -1.6 on Basketball Reference’s DBPM, -0.5 in DEF EPM, -2.9 in 538’s RAPTOR, and -0.94 in BBall Index’s LEBRON. One of these by itself might not mean a ton – but all of them together paint a picture of a well below average defender. Now, Gordon was playing for an awful, young team. On a better team that’s trying to win, his effort will go up – and he should be more effective as well in a smaller role. Still, he’s been bad defensively for years, and is not likely to help much on that end of the floor. Hopefully he’s not a sieve, and is just good enough he can’t be heavily targeted.

Fit

Pulling everything together, I’m a bit skeptical on Eric Gordon’s fit on this Clippers’ team. If they didn’t have Norm Powell, he would be filling that role. With Norm, he’ll be doing a lot of the same stuff, but worse, which is fine – Norm has been excellent for most of the season, and having a lesser version of him is a good addition. I just think that diversity of skillsets is important, and that the Clippers getting more of a playmaking-type guard (Conley, Lowry, or even VanVleet) or athleticism in the frontcourt (Jarred Vanderbilt, Jalen McDaniels, John Collins being examples) would have been more helpful. I do wonder if Norm and Gordon being so duplicative leads to one of them starting and Terance moving to the bench to balance things out a bit, but we will see.

Eric Gordon is, at the very least, fantastic Norm insurance, and will be very helpful on Kawhi/PG load management or rest games (or, knock on wood, injuries). He seems like the most likely of the expected 9-man rotation to get axed in the playoffs, but as a regular season addition he should help.

Eric Gordon: Fit on the Clippers and Scouting Report
Robert Flom

As is 213 Hoops tradition, we do roundtable grades for all of the Clippers’ trades. First up at this trade deadline, the Clippers’ involvement in a three-team deal that sent Luke Kennard to Memphis, John Wall to Houston, and Eric Gordon to Los Angeles.

Lucas Hann: C+

On a sentimental note, I’m really happy to have EJ back as a Clipper, and I think he’s going to be more efficient and consistent than Reggie was this year in the “score-first ballhandling guard” role.  But his being a better scorer and slightly worse playmaker, when the Clippers would have ideally given up some scoring for additional playmaking, making me question the fit with Norman Powell (a very good scorer and very bad playmaker).  His strength will help him switch more effectively on defense than LAC’s previous guards.  Moving back in the 2023 first round is disappointing, especially to not get an ideal fit.  The return of three 2nds for Luke Kennard is a touch underwhelming but fine/acceptable given his play and contract.  I think Gordon is a slight upgrade in his role, but maybe not worth moving what is currently the 18th pick for the 28th.  The real x-factor here isn’t his play, but his contract–if the Clippers are able to use his large, team-friendly, non-guaranteed deal to make “the next trade” in June, then this trade becomes a big win. Otherwise, it’s far from bad, but doesn’t move me in a major way.

Ralston Dacanay: B

My immediate reaction to the trade was it’s going to be awesome to see Eric Gordon back in a Clippers uniform. Like many others, though, I do have some question marks about the fit, especially since Terance Mann has played great starting at point as of late. But, after listening to Lucas break it all down, it certainly makes sense that Gordon will likely be “Bledsoe 2.0” from an asset standpoint, since his contract is tailor-made to set up the Clips’ next big trade, so I’m just hoping to see EJ ball out for however far LAC is able to go this year. Seeing Luke Kennard go to the Grizzlies isn’t fun, but it has seemed like the right time to turn him loose and the fit for him over there isn’t particularly great either. Best of luck to John Wall, it just didn’t work out here.

Niels Pineda: B-

The prodigal son is back after over a decade!  While it wasn’t the most exciting move, it’s one that I’m overall pleased with considering the upgrade in talent and fit.  Losing Kennard’s elite 3-point shooting may hurt, but as we’ve seen with Norman Powell, being able to put the ball on the floor and score at 3 levels is incredibly valuable to a team that often becomes too reliant on 3 pointers.  On top of this, Gordon is the epitome of a team first player with a proven track record of offering valuable minutes in whatever situation he finds himself in–something that Kennard struggled to do with his inconsistent role, minutes, and aggression. This was a solid move that I think may end up being one of the more underrated moves in all of free agency, but it gets a knock due to the 8-10 spots (hopefully not more) the Clippers will likely fall in the ’23 draft due to the swap we had to include (please don’t make us all regret this).

Shapan Debnath: B-

I’ve talked myself into Eric Gordon quite a bit since attaining him via trade, even though I know he isn’t quite what we envisioned as a new Clippers’ guard coming in. LAC has often looked listless with a bunch of side-to-side halfcourt guys when Norm Powell has not been in the game, so having Gordon means that even when Norm is out, LAC has a bruiser at the guard spot that can get a paint touch with a bit of efficiency. He’s not going to solve setting up 213, and the downgrade in the first round with that Bucks pick swap is absolutely something, but the Clippers badly needed another north/south guy and I believe Gordon can be that. And, I’m just happy to root for him again.

Robert Flom: C+

This isn’t a bad move, and the value in moving down 10 spots, getting three seconds, and swapping Gordon for Wall and Kennard (effectively) isn’t awful. That said, it’s unexciting to me. Gordon is a better driver and ball-handler than Luke, certainly, and the Clippers need those traits. But he’s overrated on defense (I’d say about the same as Luke, though heftier), and is extraordinarily duplicative with Norm Powell in terms of skillset. Since Norm has been so good, again, that’s not a bad thing per se, I just do wonder how Ty will configure the rotations to keep those two apart. If one of them starts over Terance for that purpose, that’s a negative for me. In short, I think Gordon is more explosive and might help the Clippers a bit more this year than Luke (or Reggie, whose spot he’s really replacing), but I wish the Clippers had gone for a bit of a different skillset (more defense with size or playmaking, preferably).

David Mendez-Yapkowitz: C+

While Gordon is certainly capable of being an instant offense kind of player, as he showed with the Rockets, I’m just not sure he truly addresses a need for the Clippers. He’s another smallish guard – albeit strong – but he just doesn’t have the playmaking skills that ideally you would have wanted an incoming guard to have. On the positive side though, he does give the team another scorer capable of creating his own shot and perhaps being able to keep the Clippers offense from stagnating so much. He’s someone defenses have to pay attention to. He’s a consistent three-point shooter as well. Plus it’s always cool for a former player to return to where their career began.

213 Hoops Roundtable: Clippers Trade for Eric Gordon
Robert Flom