Should the Celtics sign Eric Gordon

[Moranis]

Eric Gordon is nothing better than a complementary player.  unless you can get him on a reasonable deal, I don't see the point of signing him unless we already have some top shelf talent in place.

Yeah, 23 points per game is a really really nice compliment. Have you watched him play? Besides his scoring, hes also a very good defender.

What constitutes a defender as 'very good'?

Cuz dude is listed at 6'3. I know he doesn't lack for commitment, but he's undersized.

Eric Gordon is a very good scorer. He'll be that for a long time, and def a great piece to build around. Dunno if I think he's ever going to be the best player on a playoff team though.

Actually 6'3" at SG really isn't all that undersized anymore.  Sure there are still guys like Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson floating around, but there are plenty of Dwayne Wade's, Ray Allen's, and Jason Terry's running around as well.  And that is especially true when you look at the new breed of "star" SG's where Kevin Martin and Demar DeRozen are really the only ones that are tall: Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, OJ Mayo, Wesley Matthews, James Harden, etc. are all 6'5" or shorter and that matches up with the kids in college as well where most of the top flight SG's are 6'5" or shorter.

[RyNye]

complementary player, as in, he's not a guy i'd pay max dollars to be my main guy, but if i already had a nice core in place and needed a nice #3 option at SG to put me over the top, i'd make a move for him.

I would put Eric Gordon at a solid #2 option. In a year or two he could EASILY be #1; there aren't many other great young SGs in the league (that is, not as young as he is).

For the record, I agree with you about the max contract, but that's because I really don't think there are many players in the league that really deserve it. Honestly, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul (ONLY if his injury problems go away), and Lebron are the only players currently in the league with enough production to warrant it. But I still think Gordon is a solid piece to build around if you have ONE other option in place.

as the team enters rebuilding, i think it's going to be very important not to jump at the first chance to sign a nice exciting scorer.

I agree with you, actually. I only brought it up because based on your comments here and in some other threads I think you are undervaluing him as an asset. I am not even really talking about this season or the C's trying to get him, just him as a player in the abstract sense. Sorry I should have made that more clear.

  it's important to wait to spend that money on somebody who can really be a valuable building block moving forward -- and by that i mean somebody who you can legitimately build around, or who at least won't impede your ability to acquire a player like that.

I actually think Gordon is a piece you can build around if you have another asset. For example, I think Rondo and Gordon would be one of the most elite back-courts in the league. (I am actually not advocating signing him ... I wouldn't mind, of course, but I think there are better options for the Cs in particular). My point is if you are a team that will only have one elite player on your team, Gordon would not be a bad rebuilding block to try and acquire. Especially with how rarely elite players will even make it to free agency.  

[indeedproceed]

Eric Gordon is nothing better than a complementary player.  unless you can get him on a reasonable deal, I don't see the point of signing him unless we already have some top shelf talent in place.

Yeah, 23 points per game is a really really nice compliment. Have you watched him play? Besides his scoring, hes also a very good defender.

What constitutes a defender as 'very good'?

Cuz dude is listed at 6'3. I know he doesn't lack for commitment, but he's undersized.

Eric Gordon is a very good scorer. He'll be that for a long time, and def a great piece to build around. Dunno if I think he's ever going to be the best player on a playoff team though.

Actually 6'3" at SG really isn't all that undersized anymore.  Sure there are still guys like Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson floating around, but there are plenty of Dwayne Wade's, Ray Allen's, and Jason Terry's running around as well.  And that is especially true when you look at the new breed of "star" SG's where Kevin Martin and Demar DeRozen are really the only ones that are tall: Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, OJ Mayo, Wesley Matthews, James Harden, etc. are all 6'5" or shorter and that matches up with the kids in college as well where most of the top flight SG's are 6'5" or shorter.

Its a bit undersized. Harden, Mayo, Matthews are all bigger than Gordon, and the only guy who is shorter is consistently criticized for not being a 'true 2' guard due to his size.

His height won't kill him, but he's an undersized scoring 2 guard. He's an inch shorter than D-Wade, who is himself considered to be on the lower end of where SG's are supposed to be.

[Smokeeye123]

Gerald Wallace/Rajon Rondo/Monta Ellis = New big 3.

[PosImpos]

Gerald Wallace/Rajon Rondo/Monta Ellis = New big 3.

oh boy.  not much shooting.

that would be rough to watch.

[ianboyextreme]

This whole "hes 6'3" and a half not 6'4", so hes undersized" arguement really makes no sense to me. Its all about quickness. A 6'2" guy can play the 2 guard as long as hes quick enough. Shooting guard to me has never been about height, I mean, AI is basically a shooting guard. Height is more important for the fowards and center.

[Kane3387]

For the right price of course

[Fafnir]

This whole "hes 6'3" and a half not 6'4", so hes undersized" arguement really makes no sense to me. Its all about quickness. A 6'2" guy can play the 2 guard as long as hes quick enough. Shooting guard to me has never been about height, I mean, AI is basically a shooting guard. Height is more important for the fowards and center.

Height and length are very important when it comes to defending all positions in basketball.

[Yogi]

   Eric Gordon has a huge wingspan.  He's both strong enough and long enough to play shooting guard.  He's an elite scorer.  He's a little immature and whiny.  He's not a max contract guy, but he would be a good pick up at around 10-12 mil/year.

[action781]

Eric Gordon is nothing better than a complementary player.  unless you can get him on a reasonable deal, I don't see the point of signing him unless we already have some top shelf talent in place.

Yeah, 23 points per game is a really really nice compliment. Have you watched him play? Besides his scoring, hes also a very good defender.

What constitutes a defender as 'very good'?

A defender is 'very good' if he was once on your cb draft team.

[chambers]

Yes, I'd take him.
He has the potential to be a top 5 scorer in the league and with Rondo looking for him all night and finding him when he's hot, he would get so many great open shots.

Depending on how much money we had, I'd throw a big chunk at him. If we happened to get our hands on a nice small forward combined with Eric Gordon that would be great to start building around.

Two things:
1)The kid is positively part of a 'building block'. Maybe not the number 1 guy but teams these days are building around 2-3 guys, and he's one of those easily. That's why NO wanted him so badly- his scoring his huge.

2)Someone said you wouldn't throw a max deal at him because he'd be the number 2 option on a championship caliber team. I don't know many championship caliber teams where the number 2 guy isn't dancing in max contract money.(unless they're a 2nd/3rd year freak like Derrek Rose).

I am in favor of getting a young, quick shooting guard and having Ray mentor them into something special.
Eric Gordon>OJ Mayo, cept' OJ could be had for A LOT less than Gordon.

There are probably more opportunities in this upcoming draft to get an even better shooting guard than Gordon or Mayo though, and for much cheaper.
I'd go after Austin Rivers first, trade to get him, and then throw max money at a superstar small forward/power forward combo if we can't get Dwight.

I'm also biased towards Gordon because I went to Indiana U and watched him play every home game

[Moranis]

Eric Gordon is nothing better than a complementary player.  unless you can get him on a reasonable deal, I don't see the point of signing him unless we already have some top shelf talent in place.

Yeah, 23 points per game is a really really nice compliment. Have you watched him play? Besides his scoring, hes also a very good defender.

What constitutes a defender as 'very good'?

Cuz dude is listed at 6'3. I know he doesn't lack for commitment, but he's undersized.

Eric Gordon is a very good scorer. He'll be that for a long time, and def a great piece to build around. Dunno if I think he's ever going to be the best player on a playoff team though.

Actually 6'3" at SG really isn't all that undersized anymore.  Sure there are still guys like Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson floating around, but there are plenty of Dwayne Wade's, Ray Allen's, and Jason Terry's running around as well.  And that is especially true when you look at the new breed of "star" SG's where Kevin Martin and Demar DeRozen are really the only ones that are tall: Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, OJ Mayo, Wesley Matthews, James Harden, etc. are all 6'5" or shorter and that matches up with the kids in college as well where most of the top flight SG's are 6'5" or shorter.

Its a bit undersized. Harden, Mayo, Matthews are all bigger than Gordon, and the only guy who is shorter is consistently criticized for not being a 'true 2' guard due to his size.

His height won't kill him, but he's an undersized scoring 2 guard. He's an inch shorter than D-Wade, who is himself considered to be on the lower end of where SG's are supposed to be.

Supposed to be when, 20 years ago.  Look around the league, the SG position is getting smaller as is the C position, while the PF, SF, and PG positions are getting bigger.  There will still be the big shooters that play SG, but the SG position is becoming much more about quickness and speed.  Wade was sort of the beginning of that trend and it has been following that path since.  Sure it could trend back the other way, but at the moment it doesn't look like it is headed in that direction.

[Smokeeye123]

Gerald Wallace/Rajon Rondo/Monta Ellis = New big 3.

oh boy.  not much shooting.

that would be rough to watch.

Monta Ellis shoots plenty...Too much at times. He averages 20 points+ a game. And Gerald Wallace is a top 5 PF.

[chambers]

Gerald Wallace/Rajon Rondo/Monta Ellis = New big 3.

oh boy.  not much shooting.

that would be rough to watch.

Monta Ellis shoots plenty...Too much at times. He averages 20 points+ a game. And Gerald Wallace is a top 5 PF.

I think he means 'quality' shooting.
Like Allen Iverson, Ellis scores a lot of points, he also takes more shots than anyone on the court. Not the best combo of 3 players as far as shooting efficiency goes. I could imagine very long scoring droughts when Ellis is off.
I think with Rondo you need to surround him with knockdown shooters to utilize his ability to draw defenders when he's in the paint.

[jdpapa3]

For me, EG is one of the best defensive 2's in the league already and a very efficient, high volume shooter. The offensive numbers speak for themselves. But defensively, he was one of the best isolation defenders in the entire league. I'm curious to see what he does as "the man" on NOH this year, but something tells me he will be a max guy in this league.