Eric Gordon is hitting 3.7 3-pointers per game this season. (AP)

Trapped in a place he never chose, tried to flee, never found comfort and, by the end, where he was all but forgotten, Eric Gordon had more than an “anywhere-but-New-Orleans” mentality last summer when he became for the first time an unrestricted free agent. Had he lost track of the player he once was and settled into what he had become, Gordon could’ve easily found a new home where he fit, but his desire to actually have his presence felt led him to Houston.

Two months into playing in Mike D’Antoni’s fun-time offense and alongside James Harden, Gordon is bombing 3-pointers at a career-best rate and setting up teammates the way he once did before his career unexpectedly stalled. Gordon didn’t anticipate that all of this excitement would come in the unfamiliar role as the Rockets’ sixth man. But in addition to once again unlocking his offensive arsenal, Gordon’s move to the bench has also turned Houston into the league’s hottest team, having won 10 in a row and 15 of 17 overall.

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“Everything,” Gordon told The Vertical about being in Houston, “has been smooth sailing.”

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Stephen Curry is the only player with more made three-pointers this season than Gordon (104) and no one has had more consecutive games with at least four 3-pointers than Gordon’s seven. Gordon is taking 8.4 3-pointers per game, nearly two more than his previous high, and looks up to no one in long distance accuracy among players with at least 200 attempts at 44.1 percent. “I’ve always been a good shooter. I mean, always. And now I really get a chance to just prove myself,” Gordon told The Vertical. “It’s a little bit of everything. Style of play, and playing with a guy who can really pass the ball, and like I said, it’s a free-flowing system where everybody is able to get good shots and I’m just taking advantage and knocking down shots.”

The fifth anniversary of the infamous Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Clippers passed earlier this month and most of the conversation centered on the David Stern-blocked, three-team trade also involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Rockets. What often gets overlooked is the effect the eventual deal – Paul to the Clippers in exchange for Gordon, Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu, and the 12th pick in the 2012 draft, which turned out to be Austin Rivers – had on the careers of the players shipped to New Orleans. Gordon’s visible disillusionment as he held up his jersey at his introductory news conference remained consistent throughout his five seasons with the organization.

Gordon has found plenty of room to work with the Rockets. (AP)

Before getting dealt, Gordon was regarded as one of the league’s best young shooting guards, having averaged a career-high 22.3 points with the Clippers and appeared to be headed toward stardom. But New Orleans didn’t work out for Gordon for myriad reasons – injuries, ownership uncertainty and upheaval, coaching changes, roster changes and even a name change that had his career spinning nowhere in particular, like a loose sock in a dryer. “I was just getting better year after year with the Clippers, and then you make a major change with New Orleans, ownership and everything, so you had to start all over,” Gordon told The Vertical. “It was a rough time in New Orleans. Guys can tell you that are still there now. It was a difficult task.”

Gordon injured his knee in his first game with the team formerly known as Hornets, played nine games that season and was looking to escape the moment he hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2012. He signed an offer sheet with Phoenix and begged New Orleans to let him go, only to have the then-Hornets match, unable to lose the most valuable piece in the Paul deal. “The No. 1 plan for me was to stay healthy. And I had always heard Phoenix had a great staff and that was the reason why I signed there. It was nothing against New Orleans, I just thought [Phoenix] had a better training staff for me,” Gordon told The Vertical. “Being a restricted free agent, everybody is going to go through that. This is a system that’s mainly for teams to get a hold of their young star athletes.”

Over the next four seasons, Gordon would miss 116 games because of injuries to his knee, wrist, groin, shoulder and hand. His problems were compounded because the team never understood how to use him. “I think in New Orleans my role changed,” Gordon told The Vertical. “I wanted to do more. And it was all about who do you want to have the ball in his hands? I wasn’t able to have that chance to do so. I was more of a spot-up guy, a spot-up shooter. … It was very frustrating because when I was with the Clippers, I did a little bit of both. I just wasn’t able to use all my gifts in New Orleans.”

Attracted by D’Antoni’s aggressive, high-powered system, Gordon was leaning toward Houston when free agency began and pushed closer in that direction when Ryan Anderson, with whom he was close in New Orleans, agreed to sign, and Harden, with whom he shares an agent in Rob Pelinka, sat in on the Rockets’ recruitment meeting.

While Gordon struggled to find his bearings in New Orleans, Harden joined Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler in leading the next wave of quality shooting guards. Now Gordon and Harden are on the same team, with Harden playing point guard and utilizing the same scheme that made Steve Nash a two-time MVP to lead the league in assists. “A lot of people probably wouldn’t think he’d be a point guard, but you never know in this league,” Gordon told The Vertical. “I think it’s worked out well for him to play point guard here, because the system fits for him because he plays at a fast pace and that’s why I say it’s allowed me to play at a high level the same way.”

The Rockets’ offense revolves around Harden’s decision-making but had a tendency to collapse whenever the All-Star sat. D’Antoni then moved Gordon to the second unit after the first eight games, empowering him to lead an energetic group that relies on his ability to make plays for others and himself. After starting 399 of his previous 405 games, Gordon has made the adjustment and can’t complain with the results – especially because he is one of the frontrunners for the league’s top reserve honor and still gets ample time to share the floor with Harden, moving off the ball to bask in all of the open looks.

“I’ll be able to be a playmaker and a scorer at the same time. James has his unit and I have my unit. I’m just free will to do whatever I want to do on the court,” Gordon, averaging 17.5 points and 2.8 assists, told The Vertical. “[Harden] draws a lot of attention, and when teams sag off, I’m there. He’s able to always find the right guy and it’s just all about me and other guys knocking down shots.”

A fractured Harden-Dwight Howard union contributed to Houston’s disappointing 41-41 campaign last season, but Gordon said “chemistry” is the reason that the team has the third-best record in the Western Conference and should be taken seriously as a contender. “We’re as good as anybody. Everybody is looking at us as just an offensive team, but we have the tools to be a championship-caliber team. You can put us up there with anybody,” Gordon told The Vertical. “Everybody gets along. Everybody is on one task. We’re all here to win. Nobody cares what anybody else says on the outside. Everybody is locked in on one goal and that’s trying to win games and win a championship.”

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