Despite a 4-0 series loss to the Golden State Warriors, Eric Gordon showed flashes of the player the New Orleans Pelicans thought they had traded for four seasons ago.
When the New Orleans Pelicans traded Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers four seasons ago, Eric Gordon was considered the best player acquired in return. It wasn’t an outlandish idea — Gordon had averaged 22.3 points per game the season before, although he only featured in 56 games. That last point should have been a bigger concern, as Gordon’s career in New Orleans would be marred by injuries. He would only feature in 51 games over his first two seasons for the Pelicans, and while he’s managed to maintain a better bill of health over the his last two, his season scoring averages have fallen every season in New Orleans.
For the regular season, Gordon only averaged 13.4 points a game, but during the Pelicans first post season appearance since the 2010-11 season, Gordon showed flashes of his former self in three of the four games. He would average 18.5 points a game for the series, including a 29 point performance in Game 4. He shot 43.8 percent from the field (compared to 41.1 percent for the season), and 40.6 percent from three (down from his season average of 44.8 percent). Point being, Gordon showed that he is still a capable scorer when healthy, and overall played well in his first post-season appearance.
Gordon’s resurgence is due in part to simplifying his role. Half of his shots came from the 3-point line, and 76.9 percent of them were assisted. He’s developing more into a catch-and-shoot type of player, which fits better in New Orleans’ system that requires Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, and Anthony Davis to handle the ball more. Considering this season was the first in his career where he shot over 40 percent from the 3-point line (and shooting 44.8 percent from 3 is really good), becoming a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter could become an effective role for Gordon that puts his career back on the right track.
Gordon now enters the offseason with the decision to opt-in or out on the final year of his contract. He’ll make $15.5 million if he opts-in, so it would be a surprise if he were to opt-out, given how unlikely he would receive that much per season in free agency. If he carries this quiet resurgence over into next season while staying healthy, he could be in for a big pay day once the salary cap jumps in 2015-16.
Gordon’s strong post-season play has to be encouraging for the Pelicans as well, who, despite being swept, played well for much of the series, and should have a bit of momentum heading into next season. Making the playoffs again won’t be easy however — Oklahoma City should be better given Kevin Durant stays healthy, but New Orleans should feel confident enough about Gordon to where they can focus on adding talent to their bench, rather than thinking about Gordon’s replacement.
It was ultimately a quick series for the Pelicans, too quick given how hard they worked to get into the playoffs, but Gordon was a bright spot the franchise can take into next season.
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