Mike D’Antoni says Eric Gordon enters training camp for the 2019-20 season as the starter at small forward for the Houston Rockets.
D’Antoni spoke at Houston’s annual Rockets Media Day on Friday at The Post Oak Hotel, which precedes the official opening of training camp for the 2019-20 NBA season on Saturday.
“Right now Eric is the starter, and he should be,” D’Antoni said, suggesting that the Rockets will begin the season by starting three guards with Gordon alongside former Most Valuable Player (MVP) winners James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Gordon has averaged 16.8 points in 31.3 minutes per game across three seasons in Houston, including a 36.4% clip from three-point range. Last postseason, he shot 40% on three-pointers while also providing excellent perimeter defense in 11 playoff games against Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Golden State’s Klay Thompson.
Gordon recently signed a multi-year contract extension with the Rockets worth up to $76 million in additional money.
The 6-foot-4 guard won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in the 2016-17 season, his first in Houston, before largely transitioning into a starting role this past year after the offseason departure of veteran Trevor Ariza.
The 30-year-old Gordon started 53 of the 68 games he played in the 2018-19 regular season, as well as all 11 in the postseason.
At 6-foot-7, athletic young swingman Danuel House Jr. was thought to be a potentially larger alternative to Gordon for the fifth starting spot alongside Harden, Westbrook, P.J. Tucker, and Clint Capela.
Earlier this offseason, The Athletic‘s Kelly Iko reported that the starting small forward spot was “a real possibility” for the 26-year-old House this season, adding that an increased role was discussed during negotiations for his new three-year contract.
However, that article and those negotiations came before the trade for Westbrook on July 11. By replacing a superior shooter in Chris Paul with a more athletic player in Westbrook, who has averaged over 10 rebounds per game in the past three seasons, it could be that the Rockets are now prioritizing shooting ahead of size around him.
Gordon’s lack of size relative to House could hurt the Rockets in rebounding, which Mike D’Antoni has said is a priority to improve. However, upgrading the team’s rebounding at point guard with Westbrook could give them additional wiggle room elsewhere.
