... Tech N9ne, from Real GM, that has a site called rumorpress.net

The Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Hornets are the most recent teams trying to work out a sign-and trade for Gordon

He could be a great 6th man in New Orleans… Imagine him side by side with Paul. wow

Prince, off the top of my head. Anyone who is good and on their second contract (hence, not the big money 20+ million deals). Gordon would be getting more than a lot of good(er) players, so I’m not sure why you’d argue that other good players get that money. You’re the only team that can pay him that money, so you’re competing against yourselves. I get that you still got to pay fair market value for your player, but he’s asking for more than that.

Your 65% of top salaries number is arbitrary.

And Gordon won’t be the centerpiece of a championship team, and if you still need him for scoring… oye.

You argue very strangely though, and it seems like you really get angry. You also seem to not always read what people are saying. For example, up above I’ve repeatedly said Gordon is likely you’re only and best option right now and I argued for a short term contract that gives him his money. You keep arguing as if I am saying he shouldn’t be a Bull any longer and that someone could replace him right this very second.

Since good SGs come into the league every draft and are much more likely to be available to the Bulls than the chances that Wade wants to go to Chicago after living in Miami and that Pat Riley will accept the Bulls poo-poo platter all the way in 2010, I find the draft to be a more viable option to find the successor to Gordon who will play alongside Rose when you’re becoming a contender.

Like I said, I’m not trying to get you to agree with me, which I would have figured would imply that you should also think you won’t get me to agree that Gordon is with 12/13 Million bucks and/or is a franchise player.

You remind me very much of the Blazer fans who argued till they were blue in the face that Z-Bo was worth a max extension because he was only 23 years old and already a 20/10 player. We’ll be playing for his prime years, he’ll only improve! Nevermind all he does was score, he’s got good numbers!

My original point was to say (in regards to Gordon maybe not re-signing) “that sucks, but you can do better”. Gordon is a good player. He’s not an allstar though, nor a top 10 SG. Compare him to Redd and Allen all ya want, he doesn’t score as much as them to offset his lack of other abilities. It would suck until you FIND that better SG if you lose Gordon, but c’mon… I think the Bulls will survive.

Now here’s a question I’ve never had answered: What does Gordon do besides score?

HOW is he different than Jamal Crawford? Just attitude? Less of a ballhog? Crawford seems like a more selfish player to me, but a similar streak shooter who is a much better ball handler. He can run an offense, for example, which makes up for his size.

What does Gordon do at the level of top SGs in the league, aside from score pretty good? Dribble? Pass? Leadership? Intangibles?

I’m not trying to be a complete dick in asking, because there has to be something I hadn’t seen before that makes him so valuable to you. And please don’t be snippy in your reply because that is sorta annoying.

Mortimer

Its the sixth season that gives Deng a larger overall number.

are getting sneaker, look at Memphis offering a contract to J. Smith. That came out of nowhere. :)

Keep overlooking those Europeans. When is China going to pick up up, don’t they have leagues? :P

I actually read pretty much everything out there on the Bulls, not just local Chicago stuff. There are a lot of other Bulls that do more than the “NBA Cares” minimum, and there are little blurbs on quite a bit of it in the Chicago papers – but it doesn’t make it into other articles as often except in Lu’s case, because that’s the angle they play with his character.

Look at it this way – Tyrus gets the “who will be traded” or “athletic, but not all there” asides, even though they aren’t fair to him or completely accurate. At least BG gets “hardworking” and “dedicated” thrown in all over the place, instead of something negative.

let his players throw a few truck parties and Paxson can sexually harass a female intern he would be just as good as Dolan. Dolan is a joke as an owner. Look at what the Knicks have become since he bought the team. They are the laughing stock of the NBA. They are the poster children for bad management and bad decisions.

the Bulls don’t need offense.

all the doom and gloom if Ben Gordon leaves. He’s a nice player but he’s not Kobe, Lebron, Duncan, Nash, ect… Giving up on the season already? It’s Ben Gordon….he’s replaceable. He has always been a good soldier and always says and does the right things, but come on…it’s Ben Gordon! There isn’t a player on this team, excluding Rose, that the Bulls can’t go on without. It’s not like they had any realistic chance to compete for a title next year. By drafting Rose, the Bulls kinda put themselves in a mini rebuild mode. Only because it will most likely take Rose a couple years to really show what he can do. His scoring will be missed but it’s not like all 19 of the points he brings a game are gone. Other players can and will most likely pick up the slack. Though it would suck to lose a good player and not get anything back in return. That’s just bad business.

Who you’re gonna build around, you’re kinda already rebuilding anyways, right?

Noah, Tyrus, Rose, all pretty raw or expected to be raw and learning on the job. I imagine the fun part of next season will be watching Rose show signs of being a top tier PG (and maybe become one already) and seeing Tyrus develop, Deng continue to grow, and not Gordon scoring 19ppg and the team still not being more than a possible playoff team.

Does Gordon being on the team really make the team that much more fun? I know you won’t probably be as good, but he doesn’t seem to be one of the more fun players to watch this season.

I get that you’d wanna surround Rose with decent players so he has plenty of help, but I’m surprised your possible interest in next season depends on Gordon.

I guess I underrate his value.

Mortimer

Who wants to watch Derrick Rose next year?

The Bulls would be better off with Gordon on the QO, because they can jerk him around and generally mis-utilize him for another year at $6.4M, then he walks.

If he goes to Moscow, then we don’t get to play him this year, but next year we’re right back in the same boat. Ben will be an RFA again, but the Bulls will be in what’s probably an even worse predicament next year regarding the luxury tax unless they pull off a trade or let Gooden walk for nothing. Next year they’ll have about $16.5M before they hit the tax threshold to accomodate Gooden and Gordon. Assuming we do nothing, things get even tighter.

It was more a chain reaction thing – the team wasn’t winning – new GM – bad start to season – new coach – GM and coach want a “new culture” for the team – most of the team (with the exception of the young guys) gets dumped by the next season, but expectations were still pretty low. At that point, I don’t think Pax and Skiles had any interest whatsoever in keeping any of the guys who weren’t playing on potential and a rookie contract. Now, the team has been winning, last year can be looked at as an aberration, and expectations are to at least be competing in the East while at the same time making big improvements.

I see a big difference between the Bulls tinkering and trying to streamline the team, but generally liking the pieces they have, versus what was happening when Crawford got traded. BG is in this position because he doesn’t have a contract – if he were currently signed, I don’t think he would be the piece that it’s looking more likely won’t be here. Instead, Pax would be looking at who could bring the most in return. But, since there is a glut of guards and BG is the one without a contract in place, it leaves him hanging.

And with the situation so different, I just don’t see much point in comparing the two. It’s not like the team is trying to decide between which player to acquire or anything.

The biggest difference in all of this is Paul Allen is willing to pay the tax. KP doesn’t have walk that tight rope that Paxson is walking. What is Portland is doing is what a good basketball team should be doing. Accumulating as much talent via the draft as possible, clearing cap space for a big sign and going for broke he next decade or so.

We are already at a point where our young talent has to be signed to big contracts and now are going back to acclamation of young talent mode with an owner who doesn’t want to pay the tax. Furthermore he has a fruity bias of who he does and doesn’t want to keep.

Personally I am in favor of overpaying Ben for 08 and 09. 2 years at 36 is fine by me. Its not like we will have cap room this year or next to bring in anyone via free agency. DRose is 2-3 years away from being a dominate player and you preserve cap room for the ‘10 free agency boom.

But thats not realistic because we won’t bust the tax threshold.

Mort: will you all still have the cap room if Miles ends up playing 10+ games this season?

thats messed up, and not true. Bens obviously better then marty, but nearly 3 times as expensive, and rudy has won several tournament and league mvps in europe, so he should be pretty good, but will be 1/10 the cost. We like ROY. he is the only 2 that i would say is A LOT better then gordon, our other guys, not even as good, but MUCH, MUCH cheaper.

And you don’t remember the Benny Bull to the Airport fiasco to know that there is no “lure” to Chicago. It’s fucking cold in the winter.

Gordon will not be untradeable. He’s the 10th-best 3-pt shooter of all time that is able to carry an offense at times. Many contending teams would love to overpay for a guy like that if it meant sending back a lesser player or two.

...but maybe Redd and Allen are a split-second worse.

it does suck a bit that this Gordon thing means the free-agent PG market is dried up, but getting a backup PG is not that big of an issue. You only need someone for 5-10 minutes, and the emergency PGs are Ben and Thabo.

In fact, only Bulls players should just take what they are offered without negotiation and be happy they are getting paid at all. God, this is getting so old.

If they offer him more they’ll hit the luxury tax threshold.

Of course, they only actually have to pay the luxury tax if they can’t unload any more salary over the course of the year.