Houston Rockets need to follow their own lead with veteran

The Rockets have already made it clear that they're willing to trade at a loss if it means they can fully lean into this rebuild. This means they need to do something with Eric Gordon.

If there was any doubt about what the Rockets wanted to do during the 2022 NBA season, it should be gone now after the team traded Christian Wood for less than many thought they could get.

Rather than holding onto Wood and stifling the development of a rookie in hopes of getting a slightly-better draft pick, Houston made the right decision in moving on from Wood before the season starts.

The focus of this team needs to be youth on the court and development. Wood doesn't bring that, and neither does veteran Eric Gordon.

Gordon isn't the most exciting trade candidate on the Rockets right now, especially when considering his value is far lower than Wood's, but moving on from the aging guard is still the right decision for Houston.

The Rockets need to face it; Gordon's value is probably never going to be higher than it is right now. Injuries were still a bit of an issue for Gordon last season, but shooting 41% from three should be good enough to interest some team in a valuable bench player that can help a contender up their game.

As previously-mentioned, Houston isn't going to get much back in the form of capital or players, but freeing up minutes is key. Trading Gordon frees up minutes for Jae'Sean Tate, KJ Martin, Josh Christopher, and Garrison Mathews at the very least, and we haven't even seen who the Rockets will take alongside the third pick in the upcoming draft.

Houston just doesn't have a need for a veteran guard like Gordon any longer. It might not be easy to say goodbye to a leader for such a young roster, but this is Jalen Green's team now, and the Rockets need to do everything in their power to keep taking steps towards the future.

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