Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 2:55 pm  |  168 responses

Bulls in Driver’s Seat with Gordon’s Free Agency

by Ryne Nelson

I think you’d agree: Today, good things are cheap things. With less people willing to spend extra money, it’s an ideal time to invest on bargain prices. If you can withstand the initial hit, your investment will pay off down the line.

Gordon was simply fantastic for the Bulls during the postseason. Under normal circumstances, Gordon would be packing his bags now, preparing for green pastures covered in bills. But not right now. As it stands, there are less than a handful of teams that could afford Gordon without incurring luxury costs, and none of these rebuilding franchises would consider the 6-1 shooting guard a player to build around. From the Chicago Daily Herald:

[The Bulls will] probably need to pay the tax in order to re-sign Gordon, and some team insiders believe there is a possibility that could happen. The team certainly finished the season on a high note, taking the defending champion Celtics to seven games in one of the most dramatic playoff series in NBA history.

[...]

Gordon is free to leave, he but won’t have many options in free agency. At this point, Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only teams that seem certain to have salary-cap room. Gordon isn’t an ideal fit for any of them.

With few options open for Gordon, Chicago is working in a Bull market. BG would have to request a sign and trade if Detroit, Memphis or OKC make an offer (however unlikely) so he can receive an extra year and more money. The Bulls could trade for draft picks and cap space if they want. That’s one option. The other option is to resign Gordon. The caveat is they’d pay taxes for a season.

Should the Bulls go over the cap to resign Gordon or should they replace him? If keeping an exciting young core intact at a relatively cheap price is of any importance, the answer is obvious.

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  • http://tudobola.blogspot.com/ Edu

    He was as selfish as a player can be in game 7. That would be enough. But he also does not play D AND he’s not really 6-1. Gordon’s the odd man in the backcourt with Rose, Hinrich and Salmons, that should play full time at 2 next year. Bulls should simply let him go. Or offer something around 30 million for 5 years – that’s 6 a year, very good for a smallish SG that comes from the bench and can only shot (very well, sometimes, but you can truss him.) And I would love to see his reaction to an offer like this…

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    He capitalised on a situation whereby he was given full license to shoot the rock…. just put it up. I call it “The ‘John Salmons’ clause”… Unfortunately no money for BGordon…If I was Steve Kerr though, I would try and pull some strings because this could be the next piece to the puzzle….Seriously Ben Gordon in PHX would be great.

  • Jamal

    Trade Gordon for Kobe,LeBron and Dwyane Wade..that would be good for the Bulls I think.

  • Superman Osman

    BG should have considered playing like this last year. The sh*tload of money that Deng grabbed would have went for a better clause. Look at it this way, BG has nowhere to go but down from here. Paxsy might have saved himself a bargain, or did he? Anyways, the Bulls need to consider a couple of trades at least to work a better run to the post-season next year. If not, I see a headcoach job offer floatin’ around the horizon…

  • halkias

    European teams could be interested….

  • Neal Wilkins

    Man, whoever think they shouldn’t sign Ben Gordon is a retard. They were going to let him go last year and he put on a show this year and led them to the playoffs. If it wasn’t for BG they wouldn’t be who they are today. 1

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Trade him, you have Deng and Salmons and Hinrich to play this position at shooting guard. Get some draft picks or trade for some post players, which Chicago really lacked against Boston. Yes BG put on a show, but i would rather have Rose, Salmons, Deng, Thomas and Noah as my starting five, So if BG is not starting why pay him alot of money.

  • ab_40

    please trade tyrus thomas to the middle of nowhere for some money the guy has no skills ok get in bg and try to get amare stoudamire

  • http://www.bbltv.net Josh D

    Whatever happens to BG, he better sign a contract soon i wouldn’t be suprised if OKC make an offer but i think he’ll end up with the Bulls again

  • Shay-Boogy

    They should let him walk and trade Hinrich to GSW for Crawford, him and BG are the same player except Jamal is 4 inches taller and can get 5 assists and the warriors get a real PG makes two teams better

  • Tavoris

    Crawford back to the Bulls? interesting…but then they’d b lacking perimeter shooting. Crawford is streaky as heck, but not what you’d call “dependable” out there. otherwise, he just reproduces a lot of the same skills that Rose has

  • Will Ram

    Giving up BG would be a mistake. The guy has been the face of the franchise, the poster boy and the bulwark since 2006. Getting another big body in the post and upgrading the weak bench should be first and foremost.

    Don’t get mired in trade talk and hearsay bulls*t, the team needs Benny G’s scoring prowess like Snoop Dogg needs a blunt. WTF.

    Brad “I turn the ball over 8 times a game” Miller needs to go, we need to get a solid big to run alongside J. Noah.

    I know there are aspects about him that are easy to dislike, but the kid plays his heart out and feeds off energy while injecting it into his teammates and fans.

    Ill article on the kid from NYC today btw,

    http://zsmart.blogspot.com/2009/05/joakim-rodman.html

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    bulwark….nice

  • Harlem_World

    The Bulls made their intentions clear when they were not prepared to let Deng walk. Much as it goes against popular opinion (especially now after the series) Luol Deng is a better all around player and fit for longer term growth than BG. He can’t score like BG, but he is a better defender, passer, rebounder and team mate who does not need the ball in his hands to be effective. Having a fully healthy Deng is a MUCH better fit for the ongoing development of Rose. We all are judging Deng on this past sorry a** season, where he struggled with injuries. IF he comes back to the level he was when he was averaging around 19 & 7 and guarding the best opposing wing, then BG will become a distant memory real quick. However, if possible, if I’m Pax, I get a sign-and-trade deal in place to bring in a big who can score with his back to the bucket so BG doesn’t walk for free. The ideal for the Bulls would be to do a multi-team deal that somehow brought Boozer back East, as he’d have more chance of getting further in the playoffs with the Bulls in the East than Utah in the West. But, clearly, that’s not going to happen as I can’t see Utah or any team with good bigs wanting to trade for a 6-0 shooting guard who can’t guard anyone (Dumars jokes on hold…)

  • Manumaniac

    Ben Gordon is an All Star caliber guy. And I also believe that he is a player worthy of building a team around him. 24.3 points against the Celtics in the post-season (and 20.7 points in the regular season) seem like a pretty solid number for a go-to-guy in yout team.

  • TERENCE ANG

    The Bulls should give Gordon what is his value to the team. Their BIGGEST MISTAKE IS SIGNING DENG TO A LONG TREM DEAL. IMAGINE IF DENG PLAYED IN THE PLAYOFFS??????? THE WILL BE SWEPT BY THE CELTICS!!!! Deng should be traded!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.pistonscast.com John W. Davis

    Anyone who says start Hinrich over Rose doesn’t have a clue. Hinrich is damn near 30 already and it seems like this is his 3rd year.

    Hinrich is practically going downhill where Gordon barely starting has the world ahead of him.

  • Tavoris

    John W Davis, Hinrich’s perimeter defense the second half of the season was almost as important to the Bulls’ surge as the development of Rose. When Hinrich got in a groove, Rose didn’t HAVE to expend energy playing defense, which made him MUCH more effective offfensively. While Gordon can definitely score, his skills are pretty much reproduced in John Salmons (who already is a better all-around player AND a better fit for Rose)

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