February 27, 2025
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Eric Gordon has had a bizarre season in Philadelphia. It now appears over.
Sixers veteran shooting guard Eric Gordon will re-evaluated in approximately three months after undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist on Wednesday, the team announced Thursday morning.
The regular season ends in about six weeks. The team did not specifically rule Gordon out for the reason, but with this sort of timeline, the Sixers would likely need to make the NBA Finals for a return to even be a consideration. Surely, that is not an event anyone is anticipating at the moment.
Gordon, 36, was the first player the Sixers agreed to terms on a contract with during last summer's free agency. The sharpshooter was inked to two-year, veteran's minimum deal containing a player option for 2025-26. Head coach Nick Nurse was bullish on how Gordon could help the Sixers improve their spacing, as one of the most well-respected three-point marksmen of his era.
Gordon started on opening night, but quickly watched as his role kept waning until he fell out of Nurse's rotation entirely. An uncharacteristically poor shooting stretch combined with significant athletic incapabilities doomed Gordon, but in January he returned to the rotation after missing four games due to a dental issue. Gordon shot the lights out, becoming a meaningful contributor once again in a stellar month. The rest of his season, however, did not go according to plan:
| Month | Games Played | 3PA/G | 3P% |
| October | 4 | 3.3 | 23.1 |
| November | 12 | 2.4 | 24.1 |
| December | 3 | 3.0 | 44.4 |
| January | 17 | 4.6 | 52.6 |
| February | 3 | 2.7 | 12.5 |
Technically, Gordon will have a decision to make on his $3,468,960 player option by June 29, but there is not much of a decision to be made unless Gordon has zero market elsewhere. His projected minimum salary if he signs a new deal with any team is worth just over $3.6 million, which makes declining the option to sign a new minimum deal the smart play. And this actually would help the Sixers if he ends up back in Philadelphia: if he returns on a one-year deal, his salary cap hit will be reduced to just under $2.3 million. This is because, while there is a sliding scale of minimum salaries that increases for players with more years of service, all minimum signings have the same cap hit to ensure teams are not inclined to stray away from signing older players.
So you have likely seen the last of Gordon this year, but it is not impossible that he returns to the team next year. Ultimately, a role player who has had the career of his caliber in search of one last chance to win a ring may see what happened this year and deem Philadelphia an undesirable situation.
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