Suns sign Gordon, clock is ticking for Hornets

The clock is ticking.

The Phoenix Suns announced Wednesday restricted free agent
Eric Gordon has signed their offer sheet, a four-year
maximum contract, which officially
puts the New Orleans Hornets on the clock to either match
the offer or let the player leave.

Because now a sign-and-trade is out the window, though
according to Suns president of basketball operations Lon
Babby, it was never really a possibility anyway.

“They didn’t really want to engage in those discussions,”
he said.

So now the Hornets have 72 hours to decide, though we all
know what the Suns are hoping for.

“He was without question, certainly maybe not the first
free agent on the list because of Deron Williams, but I
would say right behind that,” Suns president of basketball
operations Lon Babby said. “And for a player of that
magnitude to be willing to say that he wanted to come here
and to agree to come here, and hopefully to be able to
play here if things work out our way is a great
endorsement of what we’re trying to do as an
organization.”

Of course, the Hornets could very well get in the way of
that, and they’ve said they will, by matching the contract
and keeping the 23-year-old in New Orleans.

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