Jared Cohen
It was made official on Wednesday that the Suns have signed guard Eric Gordon to an offer sheet and sent it to the New Orleans Hornets. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the Hornets now have three days to match the offer and retain the rights to Gordon.
Every indication made thus far is that the Hornets will match the offer and Eric Gordon will be a Hornet under the max offer that was made at four years, $58 million (the fourth year a player option). With Gordon signing this, it also means the Suns can no longer create a sign-and-trade deal as a result because the offer sheet has been signed. By rule the Hornets now cannot trade Gordon until January.
So the only hope now for Suns fans is that by a long-shot, the Hornets do not match.
There are more things riding on this.
The Suns will wait to officially announce the signings of Goran Dragic and Michael Beasley as free agent acquisitions to the roster until the situation with Gordon is resolved. If Gordon does end up a Sun, there will be adjustments the Suns will have to make to their current roster in order to sign all three to the team. If that is the case, one thing that has been mentioned is that the Suns could amnesty Josh Childress to create the room.
If Gordon is not a Sun, space will not have to be created for Dragic and Beasley. But Lon Babby, Suns President of Basketball Operations, mentioned that the team will not sit on their hands if they do not land Gordon. O.J. Mayo has been reported as an option for the Suns to sign at the two guard if the Gordon deal falls through.
I personally do not know if I like the Mayo signing if that does happen. The Suns already are bringing in one character-project type guy in Beasley and I question them bringing in second. Babby did say that it is important that they stay diligent in their transactions and not sign players for the sake of signing them and filling spots. I believe signing Mayo would not show diligence on their part and I would much rather see that cap space be put toward a James Harden offer sheet next off-season.
For more on the Suns, follow Jared Cohen on Twitter at @JaredPros2Preps.
