With free agency set to open on Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly one of the many teams interested in veteran guard Eric Gordon.
“Lakers, [Memphis] Grizzlies, [Minnesota] Wolves, [Phoenix] Suns, [Milwaukee] Bucks, [Portland Trail] Blazers and others — league sources say,” wrote The Athletic’s Kelly Iko in regards to teams interested in Gordon. “Gordon, 34, who was recently waived by the Los Angeles Clippers, is said to be prioritizing an outlined role with a contender.”
Gordon is coming off a 2022-23 season in which he played for the Houston Rockets and Clippers. Overall, he recorded 12.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while knocking down 44.6 percent of his shots from the field and 37.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
The former first-round pick would bring some solid shooting to a team that ranked 25th in the league this season in 3-point percentage at 34.6.
In the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals despite performing worse from 3-point range (33.5 percent) than they did in the regular season.
The Lakers have the full $12.4 million mid-level exception to use in free agency, though they seem to be targeting Bruce Brown with that. Los Angeles also has the $4.5 million bi-annual exception at its disposal, and that seems like a better salary for Gordon.
Something interesting to note is that the Lakers have been linked to Gordon recently. In fact, they were reportedly interested in acquiring him earlier this season ahead of the trade deadline.
Of course, they opted to go in a different direction, acquiring players like D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba.
Perhaps Gordon would’ve been a better option and more reliable in the playoffs, but that’s now in the rearview mirror. The 34-year-old still seems like he has a few years left in the tank, so it’ll be interesting to see what type of deal he gets this offseason.
If Gordon doesn’t end up signing with the Lakers, it seems pretty likely that he’ll end up facing them sometime in the 2024 postseason.
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