re: With Gordon cap space, who do Pels sign?

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8. Eric Gordon, Pelicans (two years, $30.3 million remaining through 2015-16)

The Pelicans need a big man to play alongside Anthony Davis. They've got Tyreke Evans to play the two alongside Jrue Holiday. They've denied it, but they've been shopping Gordon for a while. So, what gives?

"The reason they can't move Eric Gordon now," a general manager said Sunday, "is because he's not the same player he was before the injuries."

And that's why moving Gordon could come back to bite New Orleans.

Gordon's had a bunch of injuries the last three seasons, no question -- a chipped bone in his wrist cost him 18 games in 2010-11, and right knee injuries in 2011-12 and 2012-13 kept him out a total of 86 games over those two seasons -- or, a full season-plus. The Clippers couldn't wait on him any longer, and ultimately pulled the trigger to send Gordon to N'awlins (keeping Eric Bledsoe) in order to facilitate the Chris Paul deal in 2011.

But most injuries -- most, not all -- heal. And Gordon showed when he was healthy that he was one of the most explosive and talented two guards in the league -- 22 a night for the Clippers in his last full season there. The Suns gave him that $56 million offer sheet just two summers ago, after all, a deal that New Orleans matched in order to hold onto its asset.

Pelicans owner Tom Benson wants the team to make a playoff run right quick, though, so the pressure is on to surround Davis with as many quality pieces as possible. So Gordon may well be gone in a week and a half, though that $30 mil is a big nut these days.

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