Rockets news: Eric Gordon puts in early offseason work in light of new-look

The Houston Rockets are expected to be championship contenders this upcoming season, and Eric Gordon has taken that to heart by starting his workouts early.

Coming off a Sixth Man of the Year campaign, Houston Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon has been putting in the work early this offseason in hopes to be up to par with the franchise's expectations coming into this 2017-18 season.

Gordon was one of the best three-point threats and one of the deadliest bucket-getters to come off the bench, a feat that will not go unnoticed this regular season with the a bolstered roster assembled to win.

“Since our expectations are so high this season, I started training a little bit earlier,” Gordon told Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia. “I’ve lost weight, trimmed a little bit of weight to make sure I have a great start to the season, to be able to run around all day, for all 82 games. We play a very fast-paced style. Last season was good and, because I was healthy, I played a lot of games.”

The 6-foot-3 Indiana product has experienced injury setbacks through the later end of his career and was rewarded with a clean bill of health this past season after a more rigorous offseason workout, one which he looks to put on the express lane for this upcoming campaign.

“Next year, I might play just a couple more minutes, so I just wanna be more consistent, as far as knocking down shots without being tired,” Gordon said.

Gordon ranked fourth in the league in three-pointers made after teammate James Harden, who according to him will have the biggest adjustment to make after leading the league in assists by the end of his 81 games.

“I’ll get easier shots with those guys on the floor,” Gordon said, referring to Harden and new acquisition Chris Paul. “They’re both playmakers; they both draw a lot of attention. I’ll be open a little bit more than I was last year, and that’s the beautiful thing about it.”

“The only one who’ll have to make a real adjustment is James, because Chris is gonna be the point guard. He’s definitely gonna be the point guard and, when he’s out of the game, James will be the point guard. They’re both gonna have the ball evenly throughout the game, and it’s going to be easy sailing.”

This could prove to be an even better season for Gordon, given that his 246 made treys were only product of a 37.2 percent clip last season — a far cry of a career-high 44.8 percent consistency that he managed during his 2014-15 season with the New Orleans Pelicans.