The Houston Rockets are perennially aggressive in free agency and three seasons after signing Dwight Howard in what was at the time one of the most consequential signings in NBA history, they spent $80 million on Ryan Anderson and $53 million on Eric Gordon.

Houston is loading up on shooters to surround James Harden within Mike D’Antoni’s system and must be assuming the defensive side of the floor will be a layup line regardless. You can only get away with a lopsided team on either offense or defense like that in the NFL. Harden will be an unrestricted free agent in 2018 and they needed to do something with their cap space this summer to rebuild around him on the fly, but this hardly feels like a prudent combination of signings.

Gordon was where Bradley Beal is now when he signed a four-year, $58 million max offer sheet with the Suns in 2012 that was subsequently matched by the Pelicans. The injury concerns when he played in only nine games in the lockout-shortened season crystalized into just 42 games, 64, 61 and 45 over the life of that deal.

While Gordon’s value across the NBA has dropped considerably, because of the injuries, he still managed to find a four-year, $53 million deal with the Rockets along with strong interest from the Grizzlies. A four-year, $53 million deal under the old cap was a true mega deal while role players are getting those types of deals with the cap rising.

Gordon is mostly limited to being a spot-up shooter at this point in his career, which works out now that he’s paired with the ball dominant James Harden. Gordon has shot 39.1, 44.8 and 38.4 percent on three-pointers on 4.5, 5.6 and 7.1 attempts per 36 over the past three seasons. Gordon can still shoot a good pull-up but he's not as dynamic as he was with the Clippers.

Gordon did also score a quality 0.95 points per possession as the ball handler in pick and roll situations, which gives the Rockets another creator off the dribble.

Gordon ranked 43rd in Defensive Real Plus Minus last season, a few slots ahead of Harden at 47th. Gordon doesn’t have the length to defend small forwards and no longer has the lateral quickness to stay in front of point guards. The Rockets will be incredibly vulnerable at the point of attack when Harden and Gordon play together.

The deal is almost identical to what Solomon Hill signed with the Pelicans. Gordon clearly is the far more talented player if he stays healthy even though Hill offers more positional versatility and defense, but that shows where the market was at either way.

Grade for Rockets on Eric Gordon: B-

The four-year, $80 million deal for Anderson is far more problematic and my pick for the worst so far in free agency.

Anderson is a gifted second unit scorer with his ability to stretch the floor at power forward, but his inability to play even adequate defense makes it impossible to justify playing him starter minutes, let alone pay him starter money.

Anderson’s injury issues make him an old 28 that will likely make him unplayable against most normal, modern basketball lineups by the end of the contract, even if he’s healthy enough to play. Anderson needs a lot of cover defensively and that was easy when he played with an in his prime Dwight Howard. With the direction the NBA is going, it is too easy to play severe defensive liabilities off the floor. Clint Capela will be his best friend and savior with the Rockets.

Anderson has low-key not been quite as knock down of a shooter since his neck surgery, shooting 34.0 percent and 36.6 percent on three’s during the past two seasons on 359 and 358 attempts. Anderson had an elite season scoring in the post with 1.01 points per possession on 195 attempts.

The money would be a lot for Anderson even at two for $20 million, but the years are the tue killer. This could be dead money by Year 3 if Anderson is either hurt altogether or can’t stay on the floor.

Since Anderson first emerged as a stretch-4, the NBA has changed the entire concept of how it can be used with athletic small forwards with length and bulk moving up a position to power forward. The versatility and lateral quickness of these combo forwards has made stand-still, unathletic stretch-4's like Anderson borderline obsolete. 

Grade for Rockets on Ryan Anderson: D-

The Pelicans had moved on from both Gordon and Anderson as they attempt to remake their roster around Anthony Davis. Given their injury history and pedestrian production over the past few seasons, these are substantial contracts for both players that will take them into their thirties.

Grade for Eric Gordon & Ryan Anderson: A