The Clippers’ Eric Gordon trade is a bust that will hurt for years to come

The Los Angeles Clippers’ trade for Eric Gordon seemed sensible enough when it happened at last season’s February deal deadline. The Clippers were sitting at the No. 5 seed on the day of the trade, and were hoping to make an NBA Finals run with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George mostly healthy for the first time in years.

The Clippers acquired Gordon to provide some three-point shooting, secondary creation, and tough on-ball defense. In return, they sent out Luke Kennard, John Wall, and a first round pick swap as part of a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.

Things didn’t go so well for the Clippers after the trade: George went down with a season-ending right knee sprain, Kawhi Leonard suffered a season-ending knee injury in the playoffs, and LA was eliminated in the first round of the postseason by the Phoenix Suns.

Now Gordon’s brief return to LA — he was originally drafted by the team in 2008 — appears to be over. The Clippers turned down Gordon’s $21 million option for next season because it would have cost LA $110 million in luxury tax payments.

The Clippers got 27 games out of Eric Gordon. He averaged 10.2 points on 40.9 percent shooting from the field in nearly 30 minutes per game in their first round series loss to the Suns. Gordon remains a good player who could have helped LA next season, but he wasn’t worth $110 million to owner Steve Ballmer.

At this point, we have to say the Clippers trade for Gordon was a total disaster — and one they could still be paying for years from now.

The pick swap the Clippers gave up in the 2023 NBA Draft ended up moving them down 10 spots — from No. 20 to No. 30. The Rockets were thrilled to have that No. 20 pick on draft night when Villanova freshman wing Cam Whitmore somehow slid down to the pick.

We had Whitmore rated as the No. 4 overall player in the class. The Rockets were reportedly choosing between Whitmore and Amen Thompson (our No. 3 overall prospect) with their No. 4 pick in the draft. Somehow, the Rockets walked away with both players because of Whitmore’s stunning fall to No. 20.

The Clippers got a nice prospect too in supersized Missouri forward Kobe Brown. He’s a four-year college player who could be a solid rotation piece for the Clippers, but he’s not Whitmore. Whitmore would have given the Clippers a badly needed infusion of youth, athleticism, and upside. Instead, they traded the chance to draft him for 27 games of Eric Gordon.

The Clippers obviously didn’t George and Leonard would get hurt when they traded for Gordon (though it could have been reasonably assumed). They might not have known how the new CBA would make luxury tax implications of retaining Gordon more daunting. They sure didn’t know Whitmore would fall to No. 20.

Trading for Gordon seemed fine at the time. A few months later, there’s no doubt it’s a huge bust.