Report: Hornets Will Match Any Offer for Eric Gordon

We've heard rumblings of this for some time now, and SI's Sam Amick offers the latest confirmation:

Not to spoil the fun for suitors of restricted free agent Eric Gordon, but source says N. Orleans will match max offer if he gets one.

— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 1, 2012

The maximum that another team can offer Gordon is $55M over 4 years, or $14.4M/year. During the first year of the deal, the cap hit would be $12.9M for the Hornets.

Gordon will reportedly meet with the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, and Portland Trail Blazers over the next few days, so the odds that a team forces Dell Demps to put his money where his mouth is seem rather high. Despite his health issues, Gordon is easily the top wing player of this free agent class; New Orleans escaping the summer without having to shell out close to the max appears a dwindling prospect.