Pursuing Gordon Makes No Sense

Adding Gordon would only downgrade the Pistons.

2. The Pistons have two clear-cut starters at the guard positions. Although Gordon has previously won a Sixth Man of the Year award, he has made it clear that he wants no part of coming off of the bench next season.

3. With no proven starter at power forward or center, it would seem foolish to add a 6-foot-3 (in shoes) shooting guard at $11 million per season. That would essentially leave around $10 million left under the cap, which isn’t much to work with.

4. Gordon is not worth $11 million per season. Despite what you think you may have seen in Round 1 against the Celtics, he shot just 38.8 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range in that series. If Gordon had shot even decently in those games we could have seen about five less overtimes…and the Bulls in the second round. He dominates the ball late in games, plays poor defense, and is very mistake prone. He’ll get an eight figure a year deal, but I wouldn’t go beyond five years, $40 million for him.

5. Gordon and Iverson are not that different. What’s the point in replacing one bad fit with the same bad fit.

It’s no secret that the Pistons need to add offense in this offseason, but doing so through Gordon, especially at this price, just doesn’t make sense.

Signing him and putting him in the starting lineup would be catastrophic. Richard Hamilton still moves exceptionally well at 31 and he was very effective last season in the games played without Allen Iverson. Bringing him off the Detroit bench is ludicrous. A demotion to the bench for 23-year-old Rodney Stuckey would also be devastating.

For the sake of the Pistons, I really hope these rumors are just that. While I wouldn’t mind Gordon’s offense, his negatives (including cap figure) would far outweigh the positives.

Tags: Ben Gordon, NBA free agency, Pistons