Guardian Eric Gordon said he believes the trade that sent James Harden, the dissatisfied pillar of the franchise, to the Brooklyn Nets, allows the Houston Rockets to have “a real direction” under first-year head coach Stephen Silas after a start to the season. chaotic.
“Obviously, since the summer and since the season started, I didn’t want to be here,” Gordon said after training on Thursday, when he was the only member of the organization available to the media. “For us, I think it only gives us the opportunity [tener] a real address. Everyone else on the team can concentrate and not care about their situation. We can move on. “
Gordon was later ruled out for Thursday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Rockets announced a three-team deal with the Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday morning. Houston’s net prey in the deal is four first-round picks (from the Nets in 2022, 2024 and 2026 and from Milwaukee in 2022 through Cleveland), the right to trade first-round picks with the Nets in another four years, the former goalie Cavs Dante Exum and former Nets goalkeeper Caris LeVert and striker Rodions Kurucs. LeVert will be redirected to the Indiana Pacers in a separate trade from former All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, sources said.
The deal was resolved after several awkward months in which Harden demanded a deal, stayed out of training camp and said the Rockets were “not good enough” after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. , which became the last MVP game of 2018 in Houston uniform.
“On behalf of the entire Rockets organization and the city of Houston, I would like to thank James Harden for more than eight incredible seasons in the Rockets uniform,” rocket owner Tilman Fertitta said in a statement. . “James has given us so many wonderful memories as we watched him grow from sixth person of the year to All-Star and MVP. My family and I also want to thank James for his many field contributions, including generous charitable donations to multiple community events each year. We wish James good luck and we will always be grateful for the memories. “
The DeMarcus Cousins Missile Center criticized Harden for being “disrespectful” hours before the deal ended Wednesday, saying Harden’s actions and comments were “completely unfair” to his Houston colleagues.
Gordon, who came to Houston before the 2016-17 season and was Harden Rockets’ oldest teammate, did not receive Harden’s comments so harshly.
“For me, knowing him personally, I don’t think he was serious about disrespecting us,” Gordon said. “That’s just my opinion. I think he just wanted a different situation. He showed that and he said it too … I don’t think he really wanted to disrespect the players, but he wanted to get out. And he succeeded. . “