Eric Gordon: New Orleans Hornets Reportedly to Match Suns' Offer Sheet

It appears Eric Gordon will don a New Orleans Hornets jersey in 2012-13 and beyond. 

Late last week, ESPN's Chris Broussard reported the Phoenix Suns offered Gordon, a restricted free agent, a maximum contract, but the Hornets will reportedly match the offer sheet.

The news comes from ESPN's Ric Bucher via Twitter:

"

Source: Hornets not scared off by Gordon's comments, will match Suns' 4-year, $58million offer and plan to keep him. No S&T.

— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) July 10, 2012"

Let's take a further look at this newest development.

What it Means

Well, it means there will be a lot of awkward moments in New Orleans over the next four years. 

Per Bucher via ESPN.com, Gordon made it painfully clear that he wanted out of New Orleans and into Phoenix, but the Hornets front office was not having any of that. Will the talented shooting guard eventually get over his problems with New Orleans, or will he pull a Dwight Howard and pout until he's traded?

This hardly seems like the ideal situation. 

The Suns, on the other hand, were hoping to build their franchise around Gordon now that Steve Nash is on his way to Los Angeles, but this means they'll have to look in another direction for impact players.

What's Next?

If the Hornets can somehow make Gordon happy and get him to play to his full capacity, their team is suddenly looking very intriguing.

Add Gordon to a core of Al-Farouq Aminu, Jarrett Jack and newcomers Ryan Anderson, Austin Rivers and Anthony Davis, and New Orleans has a very bright future. Hopefully for Gordon's sake he realizes that the talent surrounding him isn't nearly as bad as he thought. 

As for the Suns, they are back to having plenty of cap room. Their biggest contract is currently Marcin Gortat, who is owed just $7.3 million in 2012-13 (Goran Dragic's contract is four years for $30 million).

The Suns roster is far from perfect, but with the amount of big-name free agents dwindling in 2012, they might just wait until the summer of '13 to fill some of that extra cap space with players to put next to Dragic, Gortat, Kendall Marshall and company. 

As things stand now, however, don't expect Phoenix, without Eric Gordon, to compete in 2012-13.

Follow Tim Keeney on Twitter.