The Philadelphia 76ers sought to address their three-point shooting woes in free agency, and while they may have done that, there is a strong possibility that they chose the worst option imaginable in the open market.
Just when every 76ers though they would finally get to rid themselves of the Eric Gordon experience, the front office took a U-turn, signing the 17-year veteran to a one-year, $3.6 million deal to keep him in Philly just mere days after he declined his player option to enter free agency.
Gordon is set to make just a hair above what he would have made had he exercised his player option to begin with. Supposedly, this would arm the 76ers with another three-point shooter to reinforce the team’s offensive attack off the bench, but there is simply way too many things to dislike about this move on the team’s part.
The 76ers signing Eric Gordon to another deal simply makes very little sense, if at all
At first blush, it would seem that signing Gordon to a veteran’s minimum deal would harm no one. In fact, that could ultimately end up being the case, but at this juncture, you would think that the 76ers can do much better than keep a 36-year-old one-trick pony on the roster.
Gordon shot 40.9 percent from three-point range last season which admittedly looks stellar on paper. But in reality, part and parcel of his uptick in accuracy rate was his more limited attempts from downtown. He hoisted up triples with the least frequency last season for the first time in more than 10 years. Even worse, his numbers only look more than palatable due to a red-hot stretch in December, which helped cover his atrocious start to the campaign.
But what makes this an even poorer decision for the 76ers is that Gordon literally does not offer anything else aside from his spotty three-point shooting. His burst has evaporated into thin air, severely limiting his shot profile to just perimeter shots. He cannot defend quicker opponents anymore like he did back in Houston, nor can he set the table for others.
At most, this seems to be a move motivated by the 76ers wanting to keep a locker room presence. There is also the fact that he has that Bahamian connection with rookie VJ Edgecombe, who will be slated to play a major role right off the bat.
But pertinent to the Eric Gordon signing itself, the Philadelphia 76ers will unlikely get some love. After all, the front office previously announced their desire to get younger this offseason, but this is just blatant disobedience to that self-imposed edict.