Rockets
This hypothetical trade was for the Philadelphia 76ers specifically and to be honest, it’s my least favorite deal out of the five that was in the Bleacher Report article that was meant for the Sixers. The reason why? Well, the trade below should explain enough.
On the surface, the trade makes both teams get ride of one overpaid player for another that fits each team’s needs more, as Swartz indicated when writing about the deal. I’ve already written about Horford’s fit in Houston when I wrote about five potential trade destinations for the big man.
Eric Gordon is a dynamic perimeter scorer and has a career shooting average of 37.0 percent from downtown. Yet Gordon has a history of injuries that have caused him to miss a significant amount of games. Gordon’s ability to be available is a major red flag in this trade, as well as having a down year shooting it from deep.
Danuel House started his career in the G-League before making it in the NBA. House is a nice rotation player who is averaging 10.2 points on 36.9 percent shooting from behind the arc. He’s also is a solid defender which is plus.
Ben McLemore is a former lottery bust, but it’s fair to say that he’s saved his career being becoming a legit 3-point threat as a member of Rockets. This season he’s averaged 9.8 points on 39.5 percent shooting from downtown. He’s done so on 6.5 3-pointer per game, which is career-high.
While the Sixers get some positive floor spacers, Gordon’s injury history makes this fake deal a bad for Philly. If Houston were to give up a draft pick in this hypothetical trade it would make it better.
Grade: D+