New Orleans Pelicans: Eric Gordon is not a good fit and plays for a division rival
J.J. Redick is a great fit for the New Orleans Pelicans. His ability to knock down 3-pointers at a high rate spreads the floor, giving guys like Zion, Lonzo and Jrue Holiday more room to operate.
Though he hasn’t played much with Zion, Redick is the perfect complement to a guy who commands double teams in the post and can pass to the open shooter.
Redick is also a sneaky-good defender, especially when it comes to team defense. He always seems to be in the right position to get a deflection or disrupt the play in some way.
None of these things can be said about Gordon.
Gordon is shooting just 31.9 percent from 3-point range, which is below league average. He has shown the ability to shoot it in the past, particularly when he played for New Orleans, but he’d be a big downgrade from J.J. Redick who shoots 45.2 percent on nearly three more attempts per game.
Gordon is probably a better individual defender than Redick, but not by much, especially over the last few years when Gordon has lost a step.
Gordon is shooting just 37 percent from the field overall and no longer has the first step to beat defenders and get into the paint for his shot. Gordon can still score, but he’d be a downgrade from Redick in just about every way.
Also, Gordon currently plays for the Houston Rockets, a division rival and one of the teams the New Orleans Pelicans will have to leapfrog if they want to get into the elite of the Western Conference.
Why in the world would the Pelicans want to make a division team better while making themselves worse, all for a draft pick that will probably be in the high 20’s?
If the Pelicans do decide to move Redick, this trade would be the height of foolishness. Not only would it make them worse, but they’d be hampered for years financially and could help their division rival to a title.
There will be some trades for Redick that the Pelicans should consider, but this isn’t one of them.