Rockets Do Not Trade Eric Gordon Or PJ Tucker This NBA Season

After the Rockets traded Robert Covington and Russell Westbrook this offseason, there were a lot of speculations that Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker could also be on the move as the Rockets looked to rebuild and free up cap space. They opted not to trade either of their veteran players this offseason and will likely hold onto them throughout the 2020-21 NBA season.

Not only has Eric Gordon been one of the Rockets best scoring options, but he can provide a lot of scoring off-the-bench. Gordon will be turning 31-years old this year and is still in the prime of his career in terms of scoring output. He did struggle from three-point range last season, shooting just 31.7%, but only played in 36 games as a result of various leg injuries.

P.J. Tucker is a guy who has battled throughout his professional career to prove himself and has turned himself into a key veteran player for the Rockets. He was heavily valued this offseason by many teams as a result of his defensive tenacity and three-point shooting from the corner. Since joining the Rockets in 2017, Tucker has taken 719 corner 3-pointers, making 282 of those shots for a 39.2 percentage on corner 3-pointers. 

Both Gordon and Tucker are key players for the Rockets that if they have any chance of being as good as they have been over the years, they will have to continue playing at a high level. The Rockets do not have many reliable defensive options outside of these two and if they were to get rid of either of them, it would really hurt this team’s ability to defend on the perimeter.

Not to mention, P.J. Tucker is one of the most versatile players in the NBA as he can play almost every position on the court. Having a guy like this on your team is extremely valuable and makes the Rockets hard to guard as a result of their smaller, three-point shooting lineups.