Rumor: Pacers Interested in Eric Gordon

The Indiana Pacers have already made one deal for a guard with local connections, and one report says that the team may also bring Eric Gordon home this summer.

The Indiana Pacers dealt away Hometown Hero George Hill but maintained the Indianapolis roots since the deal was for PIke High School product Jeff Teague.

And now, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders is saying that the team be interested in getting even more Hoosier-y by trying to sign Eric Gordon.

The 27-year-old was once a top young prospect in the NBA, using his sweet shot to put up impressive numbers. But then the injuries started to mount. And Gordon has now missed more than 200 games — only playing 339 out of 558 possible contests in the regular season — over the past six seasons.

So while EJ’s career 38.3% shooting from deep (including 44.8% in 61 games in 2014-15) and his two seasons averaging more than 20 points per game make him incredibly appealing, and team that inks him to a deal has to know he may miss a ton of time. The greatest player ever is worthless if he’s sitting in street clothes on the bench.

The question isn’t about talent — it’s about price and risk.

Eric Gordon | PointAfter

If you can get Gordon to sign a friendly contract to come play for his hometown team, it’s probably a good roll of the dice. Indiana certainly needs more shooting if it wants a pace-and-space, smallball style to work well. But if the per-year salary gets huge, then it might be a foolhardy move. And that seems plausible in a free agent market with more money available than good players worth giving it to.

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Another positive to getting Eric Gordon is his diminished stature in the NBA. He must know he needs to re-establish himself. He isn’t a star who can expect to get huge money and immediately have a huge role anywhere.

So, on a roster that already features Paul George, Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, C.J. Miles, and Rodney Stuckey on the perimeter, Gordon could fit either into a bench role or emerge as a starter.

The flipside to that, of course, is the team already being a bit crowded. And Gordon may not want so much competition for playing time. There may be a suitor out there who is willing to say, We believe in you and want you as a foundational player in our future.

If such a team exists, the Pacers are likely not a team that Gordon will consider.  But if he is OK with an uncertain role on a team on the rise, it could be a great fit. Indiana needs shooting despite having a lot of good guards and wings, so he might be able to step in and add a lot to the offense without making waves.

We will see.

Without knowing any more about how each side actually feels about joining forces, I would characterize an Eric Gordon signing as not highly likely and potentially a very bad idea.

But for the right salary, especially on a short-term deal, it could work out well. Lord knows Larry Bird likes a reclamation project.

Most of his forays into the bargain bin of flawed players have not worked out.

So perhaps he’s due.