Report: Daryl Morey still eyeing Rockets players, but might not have enough to acquire Eric Gordon
Daryl Morey’s love fest with bringing Houston Rockets players to Philadelphia may not be over yet.
After acquiring De’Anthony Melton (Rockets draft pick) during the NBA Draft, Morey and the 76ers added PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr at the start of free agency, both who previously played on the Rockets with James Harden while Daryl Morey was GM.Â
Leading up to the NBA Draft there were countless reports on how the Philadelphia 76ers were looking to acquire current Rockets player, Eric Gordon and apparently, they are still trying bring the 33-year old shooting guard to Philadelphia.
Gordon has two years (one guaranteed) left on his current contract with the Rockets. The biggest problem with actually acquiring Gordon is the fact that he costs $19.5 million against the cap next year and the 76ers really don’t have much money to play with given the monstrous contracts of Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tobias Harris.
ESPN reporters Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon talked about the Sixers pursuit of Eric Gordon on the latest episode of Hoop Collective:
“WINDHORST: They’ve been trying to make Eric Gordon happen too, but they haven’t quite been able to pull that deal off yet. We’ll see if that comes through.
“MACMAHON: Yeah, yeah. That one will be interesting. I do think Gordon will get moved at some point, but that doesn’t necessarily mean before the season.
“WINDHORST: We’ve been saying that for six months.
“MACMAHON: I know. Listen, at some point they’re going to take a first-round pick for him. They’ve had opportunities, they haven’t pulled the trigger yet. At some point he might be a little more forceful in making that happen.”
I really don’t see it happening. Outside of the blatant cap issues with the Sixers, they aren’t really flush with draft picks.
- 2023 – Nets
- 2025 – Thunder
- 2027 – Nets
The 76ers 2024, 2026, 2028 first-round picks cannot be traded thanks to the NBA’s Stepien Rule, aka the Cleveland Cavaliers Rule. Back in the early 80’s, the Cavaliers traded away five consecutive first-round picks from 1982-1985. The Stepien Rule states that a team cannot trade its first round pick in consecutive years.Â
I highly doubt that Houston will be swayed to move Gordon by a 2029 first-round pick, or any team for that matter. So basically, the Rockets want to trade Eric Gordon but the 76ers don’t have enough to acquire him.Â
Unless something drastically changes, this entire thing appears to already over.Â
On another note, if the 76ers don’t have enough to acquire Eric Gordon, then it should be obvious that Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving are nothing more than Sixers Twitter fever dreams.Â
I’m sure a few moves will still happen. The 76ers are still shopping Matisse Thybulle among other bench players like Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton but as for another splash that will move the needle, I’m just not seeing it right now.
