This just adds to the fun.
After what we will politely call a rough season for Eric Gordon in New Orleans, the Pelicans announced on Friday that the guard underwent “a successful arthroscopic procedure yesterday in his left ankle to alleviate pain caused by particles of scar tissue.”
He should be fine and back for training camp.
Gordon’s trials started last summer when, as a restricted free agent, he got the Phoenix Suns to offer him a max contract then turned around and begged New Orleans not to match it saying his “heart was in Phoenix.” You can imagine how that goes over with the fan base. Gordon made the mistake of business — the Pelicans (then Hornets) were always going to match, the question was what the market was for him — become personal.
Then, while team doctors were not sure exactly what was wrong, his surgically repaired knee was still bothering him so he returned to Los Angeles for more rehab. When he did return he was pedestrian — 17 points a game but on 40.2 percent shooting, with a PER of 15.4. Well off his numbers back with the Clippers (22.3 points on 45 percent shooting, a PER of 18.5) when he looked like one of the best young two guards in the game. By the end of last season Gordon was getting in a shouting match with his coach on the sidelines.
The Pelicans shopped him around at the deadline and will again this summer, but those numbers on a max deal after another surgery is going to make it unlikely anyone takes a chance on him.
If he bounces back, he and Anthony Davis could form quite the duo in New Orleans. But that is one big “if.”