The Suns have reached an agreement with free agent guard Eric Gordon, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Gordon had multiple suitors and turned more lucrative offers to join one of the prime contenders for the 2024 championship, Charania adds (Twitter link).
Gordon became a free agent when the Clippers declined to guarantee his $20.9M salary for next season. The Clippers had luxury tax issues and decided to give Gordon’s minutes to younger players.
Gordon now becomes at least a key second-unit performer on a potential powerhouse team. He could be the leading scorer off the bench while playing alongside Cameron Payne or Damion Lee in the backcourt. It’s conceivable Gordon could slide into the starting unit with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal at the wing positions. He’s been a starter in 627 of 818 career NBA regular-season games.
After clearing waivers, Gordon had narrowed his choices to the Suns, Warriors and Rockets, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
L.A. acquired Gordon from the Rockets in a three-team deal at the trade deadline. He averaged 11.0 PPG and shot 42.3% from three-point range in his 22 regular season games with the Clippers and put up similar numbers in the playoffs.
Gordon joins a host of other free agents who have reached agreements with the Suns in the early days of free agency. The Suns have also secured the services of Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop, Josh Okogie, Lee, Yuta Watanabe and Chimezie Metu.
The addition gives Phoenix a full 15-man roster. The Suns’ roster now exceeds $250MM in total payroll and luxury tax penalties, Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype notes (Twitter link).
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