Eric Gordon ready to play 'prominent role' in Phoenix Suns championship run

LAS VEGAS – Eric Gordon has waited long enough for an NBA championship.

After some lean years in Houston with the youthful, rebuilding Rockets and a short second stint with the Los Angeles Clippers, Gordon has landed with the Phoenix Suns believing it can happen this season.

“I want to win one this year,” Gordon said this week during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. “We don’t want to wait. We want to win one this year.”

Suns fans have waited long enough for Gordon to play in Phoenix, too.

Since Phoenix made an offer sheet to Gordon for four years, $58 million that New Orleans matched in 2012, whenever trade rumors surfaced involving the Suns, fans have called for their team to go get Gordon.

They now have him. Finally.

“After that first go around, you never know what’s going to happen and what it all comes down to, but I’ve always thought this was a good spot,” he said. “You’ve always heard Phoenix is a great city, great fans and they’ve become a winner over time. This is a hotbed destination.”

Gordon signed a two-year, $6.5 million deal with the Suns after becoming an unrestricted free agent when the Clippers waived him to avoid guaranteeing him his $21 million contract.

ESPN's Bobby Marks tweeted the Clippers dropped their projected tax bill from $169 million to $59 million by waiving Gordon.

The veteran guard has a player option in the second year of his deal.

“Eric is a winning player who will make our team more dynamic and help us in our pursuit of an NBA championship,” said Suns president of basketball operations and general manager, James Jones, in a news release last week.

This is the smallest contract Gordon has ever signed, but it isn’t as simple as winning a championship as to why he’s with the Suns.

“There’s more to it than that,” said Gordon, who has earned close to $180 million in his 15 NBA seasons according to spotrac.com.

“Any player, you want the best of both worlds. I’m older in my career so I’ve played for a long time and money is not always such an issue. Of course, I want a lot more. Don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day, I want to do well here every year that I’m here and we’ll just see what happens down the line, but that’s why I want to come here, win a championship.”

Gordon averaged 12.4 points, shooting 37.1% from 3 last season. He was part of a three-team trade that sent him from the Rockets to the Clippers right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

The 6-3 guard, who will turn 35 years old on Christmas Day, nailed 42.3% of his 3s in 22 games with the Clippers. Averaging 11 points in the regular season, Gordon played in the postseason for the first time since 2019-20 with the Rockets.

The Suns eliminated the Clippers in five games in the first round, Gordon averaged 10.2 points in the series, but his best game came in Game 1 Los Angeles won, 115-110.

Gordon scored 19 points, making 3-of-7 from deep.

Now he’s with the Suns looking to win a championship.

“I feel very confident with the group,” Gordon said. “The talent is there. Now we’ve just got to let the season come and make sure the chemistry is there. If we can bottle all that up and point it in the right direction, then I think we’ll do something special.”

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Having been on teams that have contended for a championship, Gordon later expanded on why he’s so certain the Suns can do the same this season.

“Just guys’ style of play,” Gordon said. “You’ve got guys who are two-way players, like to compete and these guys can shoot. You’ve got guys who can shoot, put the ball on the floor. That’s what you need in playoff basketball. Once we do that, we should be able to make each other’s games easier.”

Gordon is one of those guys who has always made life easier for his teammates because of his shooting ability, but he’s blended well with great players in the past like James Harden, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Now he’s with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Deandre Ayton in Phoenix.

“I space the floor, I can always attack the basket,” said Gordon, who is eighth among active NBA players in career 3-pointers made with 1,878.

“My game complements others. We’ve just got to jell it all together. I can bring a lot to this group whether I come off the bench or whether I start, I should be able to play a prominent role and help this group.”

Gordon may not start games in Phoenix, but he could very well be part of a closing lineup for the Suns when it’s winning time.

“I’ve always been a part of those moments,” said Gordon, the seventh overall pick in the 2008 draft out of Indiana. “You can never be afraid. Once they pass me the ball in a tough, crucial time, I’m ready to knock down those shots in different moments. That’s the good thing about this team. We’ve got all those guys who’ve all been in that situation of trying to knock down shots. My game suits anybody.”

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Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Eric Gordon ready to play 'prominent role' in Phoenix Suns' title run