After Trevor Ariza was traded, it was revealed that the Orlando Magic turned down a similar offer to send Aaron Gordon to the Portland Trail Blazers.
After the exciting deal 24 hours ago, where the Portland Trail Blazers sent Trevor Ariza to the Houston Rockets with two first-round picks for Robert Covington, SiriusXMNBA’s Mitch Lawrence revealed how the Orlando Magic turned down a similar offer for Aaron Gordon.
Gordon is still young at just 24, but he has never shot the ball like Covington or played help defense like him. He is also owed $17 million per year, significantly more than Covington’s $12.5 million a year.
Gordon is a better passer and man defender than Covington, but I think that Covington is an overall better player, so the deal Neil Olshey made for him is a better one.
Orlando Magic turned down Portland’s offers to land Aaron Gordon, before the Blazers used similar assets to make their move for the Rockets’ Robert Covington, per sources. Gordon was said to be the Blazers’ No. 1 target.
— Mitch Lawrence (@Mitch_Lawrence) November 17, 2020
I find it strange though that the Magic turned the deal down though. They would have received two first-round picks and got off a large amount of salary for 2021. The Magic are going nowhere as a back to back eight-seeds in the playoffs and a team with no real future star.
The Magic’s loss is the Rockets gain, who now have two first-round picks that they will get to use in this year’s draft.