Will Eric Gordon Be A Clipper Again?

Remember, a few years ago, when the Clippers traded away their young star, Eric Gordon, as part of a package to acquire Chris Paul? It was so, so sad to see young EJ go to New Orleans, as many of us had dreamed that he would spend his whole career in Red, White, and Blue. At the end of the day, was really no question: Chris Paul was worth the package the Clippers traded for him and more. The two best seasons in franchise history since his acquisition would seem to be ample proof of that.

Now, according to a new rumor on ESPN.com, there's a chance for the Clippers to get young Eric Gordon back from the Hornets Pelicans. Here's the article (Insider Only). According to the rumor, the Clippers would package backup point guard Eric Bledsoe and young center DeAndre Jordan to the Pelicans in order to get back Gordon and center Robin Lopez.

Nobody questions Gordon's talent on the basketball court; he's averaged 18.6 points per 36 minutes over his 5-year career, including over 20 per 36 each of his last 3 seasons. The issue that many critics have with the 24 year old is his ability to stay on the court. After appearing in 78 games his rookie season, Gordon played in only 62 and 56 games apiece in his last two seasons in Los Angeles, many of those games with injuries. In New Orleans, his injuries have only gotten worse, costing him all but 9 games of the lockout-shortened 2012 season and just under half of the games this past season. Gordon recently had a minor ankle procedure.

There would be a lot of risk involved for the Clippers, who would be sending out their two best expendable assets in Jordan and Bledsoe for a player who may have issues seeing the court. There's also a huge potential for reward: Gordon's a magnificent young player who is a very good defender and can create his own offense as well as shoot threes with range.

Salary-wise, this exact proposal doesn't work perfectly. The Clippers would have to throw in a little extra salary. Adding in Grant Hill, who is most likely going to retire, and Willie Green, who wouldn't get playing time with both Gordon and Jamal Crawford on the roster would do the trick. Green could also help the Pelicans next season- he's a perfectly capable player, as Clippers fans saw this past season when he started the majority of games at shooting guard.