Rockets trade Eric Gordon to the Clippers

On deadline day, the Houston Rockets finally pulled the trigger and traded Eric Gordon to the Los Angeles Clippers. The three-team deal saw Gordon head to Los Angeles, Luke Kennard head to the Memphis Grizzlies, and John Wall, Danny Green, three second-round picks via the Grizzlies, and swap rights of Clippers’ 2023 first-round pick for the Milwaukee Bucks’ first. The Rockets acquired the Bucks’ first-round pick in March 2021 as part of the P.J. Tucker trade.

Wall and Green are both expiring contracts and are very likely to be bought out. Wall was bought out by the Rockets in the offseason after being acquired for Russell Westbrook in 2020. He is currently the highest-paid player on the Rockets at $40.8 million. His contract with the Clippers is for $6.4 million.

Green has yet to play this season after suffering a significant knee injury last season and is earning $10 million, making him the highest-paid player on the Rockets’ current roster. If bought out, it’s likely a contender will see if he is healthy enough to help round out their wing rotation. 

The Rockets have the most dead money in the NBA at $62.2 million. If they buy out both Green and Wall, it will bring their dead money to $78.6 million and move their active cap to $56.6 million.

It has yet to be reported the exact details of the second-round picks coming from the Grizzlies, but they own most of their seconds and have multiple second-round swap rights and incoming picks. 

The Rockets will also be able to swap Milwaukee’s 2023 first-round pick for the Clippers’ 2023 first. If the season were to end today, the Rockets could swap the Bucks' 28th overall pick for the Clippers' 18th overall pick. 

The Rockets’ trade of Eric Gordon netted them three second-round picks and the ability to move up potentially ten spots from the end of the first-round.