HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Since winning the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award in his first season with the Rockets, Eric Gordon has moved back and forth between starting and coming off the bench, but on Monday, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said Gordon will come off the bench when the Rockets open the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
"We talked about it, and I want him to be comfortable on the floor," Silas said. "I want him to get his shot attempts. I want him to be a primary scorer, and I felt that with the first group, it's a little bit harder for him to be that."
Gordon has always maintained he doesn't have a preference for either role he just wants that role to stay steady.
"I just want to have consistency to where I either just come off the bench or start," he said. "I know previous years I always go back and forth, and it always is sometimes frustrating as a player."
Silas said Monday he is currently projecting Danuel House Jr. in Gordon's starting lineup spot alongside James Harden, John Wall, P.J. Tucker and Christian Wood. House's position isn't written in stone, but Silas believes he's a perfect fit with the other four.
"He can guard the best player on the other team, he's a spacer, he kind of can live off what James (Harden), John (Wall), C-Wood do. And then having Eric's veteran scoring defending punch off the bench in a more featured role kind of makes sense to me."
That would free up Gordon, who averaged 16 points per game in a bench role during the 2016-17 season, to help lead the Rockets second unit.
"He's had success coming off the bench," Silas said. "He's had success as a starter. The reason that he's coming off the bench is because he's so good, and for him to have the character to accept that role and roll with it, it means a lot to me."
Gordon has only one teammate remaining from when he was the NBA's best reserve four seasons ago, and James Harden, who has also taken home Sixth Man of the Year honors, knows just how valuable having that type of scoring punch off the bench can be.
"We all know how great Eric is," Harden said. "You know how important he was for that Sixth man award he won a few years ago. He was unbelievable. He's always comfortable, he's never in a hurry. Obviously, his shot making is elite, and he's just being way more aggressive for the last few weeks than I've seen Eric."
