NBA: Five Red Flag Players To Avoid This Summer

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With the seventh pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers took Eric Gordon out of Indiana. It didn’t take long for the rookie shooting guard to show his skills on the offensive end, scoring 41 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder in January and averaging 16.1 points per game. Gordon averaged 18.4 points per game in three seasons in LA and was seen as one of the league’s more promising players on the rise, but when a Chris Paul trade presented itself, the Clips had to pull the trigger and send Gordon to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Coming off his best season as a pro, in which he averaged 22.3 points and 4.4 assists per game, Gordon was met with high expectations in his first year with the Pellies. It seemed like NOLA was on to something special when Gordon dropped 20 points in the season opener against the Phoenix Suns and knocked down the gamewinner. Unfortunately, it was one of only nine games he played that season because he needed arthroscopic knee surgery for a pre-existing injury that he re-aggravated when he bumped knees with none other than Grant Hill. You can’t make this stuff up.

Mar 1, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon (10) handles the ball defended by Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) during the first quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

In his six-year career, Gordon has played 311 games out of a total 476. Since the Pelicans acquired him in the Chris Paul trade, Gordon has only played in 115 games. He’s never shot better than 45.6 percent from the field and his scoring has dropped in each of his last three seasons. In his defense, Gordon actually did play 64 games this season.

However, he also posted a career low 15.4 points, he shot just 43.6 percent from the field, he had another season-ending arthroscopic knee surgery and March, and did I mention that the original moment when everything started going downhill came from bumping knees with a guy whose career was notoriously cut short by injury? We’d love to see him healthy, but no one’s really pining for Gordon and the $14.9 million he’s owed next season. That explains why he’s only No. 5 on this list, but an inefficient shooting guard with a history of knee problems is something NO ONE should be looking into.