4 trades to send Aaron Gordon to the Rockets

Houston Rockets trade package #3.

This trade works out for essentially every team involved, which isn’t often the case in a three-team deal. For Orlando, who is 13-26 and in need of another young prospect, they land Kevin Knox, who averaged 12.8 points per game as a rookie and is still just 21-years-old.

What’s also just as important for Orlando, who would be sending out Gordon’s $18.1 million salary, is that they bring in salary filler that won’t have them handicapped to veteran long-term contracts, as that would defeat the purpose of moving Gordon. In this scenario the Magic bring in the expiring contracts of Frank Nitilinka and Elfrid Payton, which would allow them the freedom and flexibility moving forward.

The New York Knicks have swung and missed on multiple star-level players of late and have sought to build back up the brand of Knicks basketball. The 2020-21 Knicks have been a great story, as they currently rank seventh in the Eastern Conference in Tom Thibodeau’s first season in the Big Apple.

New York adding Oladipo would only help with the brand rebuild, as they’d get a former All-NBA guard who can make an impact on both ends of the floor and would likely sign an extension to play in the bright lights of Madison Square Garden on a young and improving team with a star already in place in Julius Randle.

For the Rockets, they’d get the 25-year-old Gordon, who remains under contract through next season, for Victor Oladipo and the first-round pick they acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in the Robert Covington deal.

Next: No. 2