West Notes: Rockets, Eric Gordon, Mavs, Josh Green, Pelicans

Rockets

Veteran guard Eric Gordon is the “most asked about player” on the Rockets’ roster by other GMS, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

“Since the departure of James Harden and Russell Westbrook in 2020, along with Houston’s other veterans during their contending years, Gordon’s continued presence has been met with a mixture of emotions,” Iko wrote. “The Rockets have turned down offers for Gordon at every possible juncture — the draft, offseason and trade deadline — but a resolution to this saga may finally be had this season. Team and league sources tell The Athletic the Rockets are more inclined to moving the 33-year-old than at any point over the past two seasons.”

• Meanwhile, small forward K.J. Martin is also drawing lots of interest, with rival teams believing the Rockets are willing to move him, per Iko.
• Meanwhile, the Rockets aren’t looking trade forwards Tari Eason or Jae’Sean Tate, despite both players drawing interest, Iko added.

Mavericks

Despite some chatter, the Mavs are not looking to deal shooting guard Josh Green, per Tim Cato of The Athletic.

“Dallas understands it must build a title-contending team around Doncic in the next couple seasons, and every non-Doncic player on the roster should be considered available in that pursuit,” Cato wrote. “That said, my understanding is that the Mavericks would be very hesitant to trade Green at this point. One person in the front office told me that he considered him the team’s third-most important player after Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie.”

• Of course, the Mavs are among the teams that have been linked to Pistons small forward Bojan Bogdanovic. You can be sure Green would be among the type of players Detroit would seek in return.

Pelicans

Guard/forward Trey Murphy said the Pelicans have a distinct home-court advantage at the Smoothie King Center.

“I feel like we have the best home-court advantage in the entire league, because our fans are just rambunctious,” Murphy said, via Jim Eichenhoffer of Pelicans.com. “It helps us and we feed off their energy. It’s a whole lot of fun playing in SKC.”

• Former NBA guard Antonio Daniels said on NBA SiriusXM that power forward Zion Williamson is much more than just a scorer. “Another aspect is his ability to see the floor and make his teammates better,” Daniels said.