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| Gordon hasn't played much for Charlotte this season, and clearly the Bobcats needed to rid themselves of his expiring deal |
The Bobcats, who are hanging onto a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference by a very thin thread, allowed LeBron James to score a career-high 61 points last night in a 124-107 drubbing at the hands of the Heat. Now, a day later, they have released one of their better shooters, even though he has barely played for Steve Clifford this year in Charlotte.
Ben Gordon, a 10-year NBA vet, was waived by the Bobcats today, and once he clears, he will be free for any team to sign. Although he is not the explosive, 15-20 point scorer he was earlier in his career while on the Chicago Bulls, Gordon — a UConn product — can still be productive for a team fighting for a playoff spot or fighting to win in the playoffs.
Players like Glen Davis (Magic to Clippers), Caron Butler (Bucks to Thunder) and Danny Granger (76ers to Clippers) are other buyout casualties who have signed with contending teams in the last few weeks since the trade deadline.
Even the Pacers (Lavoy Allen and Evan Turner) and Bulls (Jimmer Fredette) have picked up useful bench players to add to the fold.
One notable top team to not trade for or sign anyone recently? The Miami Heat, two-time defending champions, were interested in both Granger and Butler, and might go for Gordon as well, since you can never have enough scorers in the NBA.
Now, I do not have any inside sources from the Heat confirming or denying that they are looking at picking Gordon up, but it's not the biggest leap to say they might be. Even teams like the Spurs and Rockets, both firmly in the Western Conference playoff chase, could use someone that brings top shooting and instant bench scoring such as Gordon. All three of those teams will definitely make noise this spring, and obviously want to improve as much as possible until then. Ben Gordon is far from the worst option for those teams.
