Report: Rockets, Magic have held significant Aaron Gordon trade talks

“The Rockets and Magic have engaged in talks on a Gordon deal to Houston for two first-round draft picks,” Shams Charania writes.

The Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic have had significant talks about a trade involving 6-foot-8 forward Aaron Gordon, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. This season’s trade deadline is Thursday, March 25.

For Houston, Gordon would start next to Christian Wood, who is the same age, in a young and uber-athletic frontcourt. The 25-year-old is averaging 14.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 29.0 minutes this season, and he’s shooting a career-high 40.2% on 3-pointers.

Regarding Gordon and the Rockets, Charania writes:

As far as the Gordon market, the Rockets and Magic have engaged in talks on a Gordon deal to Houston for two first-round draft picks, sources have told The Athletic. No deal is imminent on this front as of this writing, but there have been significant talks.

The Rockets need to send out close to Gordon’s $18.1-million salary to make a deal work financially. That could be done by sending out Victor Oladipo ($21.0 million), who is believed to be a strong candidate to be traded. If not Oladipo, Houston could also send out the expiring contract of Dante Exum ($9.6 million), along with other, smaller salaries.

Per Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Gordon has officially asked the Magic to be traded. With his current contract expiring after next season, that could incentivize the Magic to act soon, since waiting to trade Gordon until the final year of his deal could reduce the offers they receive.

For the Rockets, whether a trade gets done likely comes down to whether Orlando would settle for a pair of less-desirable first round picks, as well as how that offer stacks up relative to those from other teams.

Though Houston has 14 first-round picks over the next seven years, the second-most in the NBA, they’re 11-30 and on an historic 20-game losing streak. While Gordon is certainly a good player, he’s not the superstar caliber player that would transform a franchise by his arrival. There’s also some risk that Gordon could leave after the 2021-22 season, since that’s when his contract expires, and Houston might be in a rebuilding phase. For a veteran free agent in the prime of his career, that environment often isn’t attractive.

Thus, it’s unlikely that Rockets general manager Rafael Stone would give Orlando a first-rounder that might bring in a superstar, such as Houston’s own pick in 2021. That logic may also apply to Houston’s picks in 2022 and 2023, which currently have no pick-swap rights attached to them.

The Rockets have several owed first-round picks from other teams (Portland, Detroit, Washington, Milwaukee, Brooklyn) that are unlikely to bring in a superstar, either through the strength of that team or draft order protections that are tied to that pick being conveyed. They could also offer one of their own picks, but with similar protections to make it likely that they retain the pick, if it’s within a typical superstar range.

But how would that type of offer stack up relative to bids for Gordon by other teams, and is it enough to satisfy Orlando? With the trade deadline three days away, we will not have to wait long to find out.

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