So the Bulls have been negotiating with Deng and Gordon for a while now, and there seems to be a good chance that they'll sign and trade at least one of them (probably Gordon), and possibly both. When a player is signed and traded, it is hard to get anything of value in return because it is very hard to match salaries and the other team knows that you have no other choice but to trade the player. That is why I believe it is best to resign both Deng and Gordon.

The problem with resigning Gordon and Deng is that they want too much money and the team wants to maintain flexibility so that if there is a star free agent available in 2010, they can actively pursue him. Also, there are no more teams with cap space that might be interested in signing them (except for the Grizzlies, but they won't spend their money).

That leaves 3 options:

1. Gordon and Deng resign wth the Bulls.

2. Either Gordon, Deng, or both are signed and traded.

3. They take the qualifying offer and try to find a team in free agency next offseason.

The first option is probably the best for both parties. The Bulls keep their 2 best players, the players get their money, and everyone's happy. The second option would make the players happy because they would be getting paid; however, the Bulls would probably only take contracts expiring in the next two years, which would probably make them a bad team for the next two years and put all hope in the summer of 2010 (not a good idea in my opinion because there's always the chance that they don't get a star free agent acquisition that year). The third option is the last resort, and would be the worst case scenario for both parties because it would mean losing the players for nothing and the players would lose their Bird rights and have to find a team with cap space to sign them to their desired contracts.

My idea is that the Bulls give Gordon and Deng their desired annual salaries (probably 13 million for Deng and 11 or 12 milion for Gordon), but in shorter deals so that they remain tradeable in the future and leave the team with more flexibility in what they choose to do with the roster.

Deng: 3 years, $38 million

Gordon: 3 years, $34 million

They could include player/team options for more years or even after 2 years. I think this is the best way to go with Gordon, but if Deng was to sign long term for something like 6 years, $63 million, that would also be good.