2017 Sixth Man of the Year Agrees to Re-Sign with the Sixers
The Philadelphia 76ers certainly want to forget about their 2024-2025 NBA season. This Sixers team suffered numerous injuries to their entire roster all throughout the season, finishing 13th in the East with a 24-58 record. One player that Philly was hoping would push them over the mountaintop this season was 17-year veteran and the 2017 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Eric Gordon. During last year’s off-season, the 76ers signed Gordon in hopes his excellent offensive capabilities would put the Sixers over the edge of their competition. However, the injury plague got to every member of the 76ers roster, including Gordon, which hampered Philadelphia’s dreams of making the NBA Finals. Once again a free agent, it’s been reported that the 2017 Sixth Man of the Year has re-signed with the Sixers on a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum.
Gordon was selected as the seventh overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2008 NBA Draft. As soon as he began his rookie season, the future 17-year veteran made an immediate impact as he averaged 16, 17, and 22 points during his first three seasons in the league. In December of 2011, the future Sixth Man of the Year, along with Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu, was traded to the New Orleans Hornets, soon to be Pelicans, in exchange for a future teammate of Gordon’s in Chris Paul. During the 2016 off-season, the veteran shooting guard signed a four-year deal with the Houston Rockets, where he would eventually become the 2017 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. He was crucial to the success happening in Houston over the next several seasons, yet this team could not make it over the hump, coming up short during the NBA Playoffs. A few years later, Gordon was traded back to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team deal that involved the Memphis Grizzlies. Just a few months later, he was waived by the Clippers, allowing the Phoenix Suns to sign him just a few days after the fact. During the next off-season, Gordon signed with the Sixers.
This past season, Gordon played in 39 games for the 76ers. He started in 13 games and averaged about seven points, a rebound, an assist, and a steal in 20 minutes a night. On February 26th, the 2017 Sixth Man of the Year underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist. This surgery effectively shut down Gordon’s season. With the Sixers, Gordon hopes to contend and win his first career NBA Championship.
