(Editor’s note: We are continuing our individual reviews of all players from the Houston Rockets who finished the 2021-22 season with the team. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)
Rockets Player: Eric Gordon, 6-foot-3 guard, 33 years old
2021-22 statistics: 13.4 points (47.5% FG, 41.2% on 3-pointers), 2.7 assists, 2.0 rebounds in 29.3 minutes
Professional Experience: 14 seasons
Contract Status: Under contract for 2022-23 at $19.6 million; team option for 2023-24 at $20.9 million
The best statistic to sum up Gordon’s value as a steady veteran is this: The Rockets were 1-24 (.040) when he did not play in the 2021-22 season, and 19-38 (.333) when he did. If extrapolated over a full 82-game campaign, that’s the difference between going 27-55 or 3-79.
Gordon is one of the best defenders on a young team that is otherwise deficient on that side of the game, and his value as a floor spacer and penetrator makes offense much easier for his teammates.
If you exclude Gordon’s 14 games during Houston’s 1-16 start (largely due to the ill-fated Christian Wood-Daniel Theis big lineups), the Rockets were 18-25 (.419) when playing Gordon alongside proper spacing. Over a full season, that would be a win pace of nearly 35 games!