To the Bulls' Front Office
by Rose Colored Goggles on Jul 2, 2009 12:37 PM CDT
26 comments
Dear JR, Gar and Pax (but mainly just JR),
Thank you for the memories. Just kidding. Screw you.
I understand why the Bulls didn’t want to resign Gordon for that asinine amount of money (for a one dimensional player that is). I was as critical of BG as anyone over the past few years, although it is sad to see the best Bulls player since MJ leave to the hated Pistons.
I do, however, have a couple concerns about the message this organization consistently sends to its fans: we care more about profits than winning. It just seems like JR views the Bulls as his investment, and the White Sox as his team. For quite a few years, the Bulls have been the most profitable franchise in all of pro basketball – this is fact. But while teams like the Lakers, Magic, Celtics and Cavaliers are willing to go into the luxury tax to ensure they have a chance at contending for a championship, the Bulls (i.e. JR) flat-out refuse to (at least since MJ left).
There aren’t too many teams out there that draft a guy #3 overall, have him lead your team in scoring for 4 straight years (he’s the Bulls’ 7th all-time leading scorer also) and then let him walk for absolutely nothing. The only other team that has done something like that (without injuries or personality conflicts involved) are the 1996 Orlando Magic. And it took them 13 years to get back to an NBA Finals. Sheesh.
Also, does anyone else remember Gar Forman on ESPN1000 last week saying that resigning BG was the Bulls’ number one offseason priority? Well, Ben Gordon was on ESPN1000 this morning stating that the he gave the Bulls an opportunity to match or come close to the Piston’s offer and they replied, “no thanks.” Should I expect GarPaxDorf to label this offseason a failure? Of course not. We got James Johnson and Taj Gibson, fool!
I know that resigning Gordon doesn’t guarantee a championship (or even make us contenders), but it does keep us from regressing this year in terms of on-court production. How do we plan on replacing that 20 ppg? James Johnson and Taj Gibson? I mean, if the Bulls weren’t planning on attempting to resign BG then why on earth did we draft two forwards last week? It just doesn’t make sense when Wayne Ellington and Toney Douglas were still on the board at 26 (maybe the Bulls legitimately thought they could get BG for the MLE? If so, they’re crazy).
It just kind of feels like a slap in the face that the organization can’t go into the luxury tax once in a decade to ensure we have a playoff team this season. How about some payback to the fans who bought tickets, merchandise and watched games during the Ron Mercer/Dickey Simpkins years? We still have about 25 million in expiring contracts coming off the books – more than enough to sign a big FA next summer.
I guess what I’m saying is that I hope the Bulls have some sort of plan. I just don’t know what it could possibly be. Telling the fans to wait another year just isn’t going to cut it for me – we’ve been waiting more than a decade! The second half of this season was incredibly exciting, and I’m having a hard time believing that exchanging BG for two rookies is going to provide the same kind of feeling this year.
Thank you JR, for all your love and dedication to keeping my favorite team in NBA purgatory. It does not go unnoticed.
Your #1 disgruntled fan,
R.C.G.
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Agree
Basically they lied to us about their stance on Gordon. No matter what they say after this, they didn’t do enough. I think if Gordon got an offer, he would’ve said so, so I assume Gar let him go for NOTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
by koolaje on Jul 2, 2009 11:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
It just makes me so mad
to see this organization consistently low-ball their best players and their fans. It really is classless.
by Rose Colored Goggles on Jul 3, 2009 12:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just Chill...
Remember… we still have Derrick Rose. The future is bright me think. We need patience. 2010… if nothing gets done after then… well I guess we can call for Reinsdorf’s crucifixion.
Also the world might end in 2012 according to the mayans. And those mofos were smart. Maybe too smart… Naw… they didn’t have computers. Nevermind!
by 420man! on Jul 3, 2009 2:14 AM CDT reply actions 2 recs
Don't worry: if all goes well, we will eventually morph into Cubs fans
Wait till next year!
We’ll … go .500 again! YEAH! WOO BULLS
Vinny Del Negro Offensive Gameplan, Part 1
-When there's less than 30 seconds left in the game, that's me with my hands cupped around my mouth yelling.
"BEN! SHOOT! SHOOOOTTTT!!! WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?"
-This segues nicely into my Timeout Management classes - order now!
by Prevenge on Jul 6, 2009 3:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wrigley Field >> United Center
No one goes to a Bulls game because the UC.
"Whoever was responsible for pulling that offer [to Ben Gordon] off the table...bring him before me and I'll punch him right in the face " - Frederick Pfeiffer
by Granny Waiters on Jul 6, 2009 8:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
UC = rat-free
oh, and you don’t have to pee in a prison trough. But you’re correct, nobody goes to see the Bulls because of the UC. You just won’t get a disease if you do.
by Rose Colored Goggles on Jul 7, 2009 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Here in Iowa, they market bus trip to Cubs games,
with “seeing Wrigley” as the main selling point.
"Whoever was responsible for pulling that offer [to Ben Gordon] off the table...bring him before me and I'll punch him right in the face " - Frederick Pfeiffer
by Granny Waiters on Jul 7, 2009 9:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stance on Gordon
If the Pistons thought we weren’t pursuing Gordon, would they have offered the same contract? Doubt it, they probably could have shaved one or two million off per year. I don’t think Gordon was really a top priority for us, but it sure helped raise his market value.
I think it will be surprisingly easy to replace Gordon’s production this year. If you take a look at his 82 games profile, the only time he was worth more than an average player was when the Bulls went 3 guards and Gordon played out of position at the PG or SF positions.
And don’t tell me that you can’t look at the numbers because his real value was spreading the court to allow Rose to drive. There are plenty of free agents we could sign to stand on the 3pt line and just shoot 3pters, stretching the court. Whether Gordon led the Bulls in scoring or not, he isn’t nearly worth 10 mil per year. Comparing him to Shaq is just silly.
by pibb55 on Jul 3, 2009 1:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
spot up shooter
yeah, just try to imagine we have Bowen or Kapono standing in the corner, or have Vinny drawing a play for them to shoot during clutch time. We will then see the difference. ~~~
by Calvin X on Jul 4, 2009 1:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Right
if you notice, I even said I’ve been hard on BG and I referred to him as one dimensional. I’m not saying he’s worth 5 years, 55 million. I’m just saying the Bulls really whiffed on this one by pulling the offer off the table last year. I think he’s worth about 8-9 million per year, which is what he came back to accept and the Bulls said the offer was gone.
It just makes the organization look like they don’t care about winning, just making money. It also makes them look foolish to other teams/players.
by Rose Colored Goggles on Jul 4, 2009 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
They had to take the offer back
It would have ruined negotiating for them in the future with any other contracts.
Say I offer you $5000 for a used car, and tell you the offer is good until tomorrow… then you come back 2 days later and say that you’ll take the offer. I may have already made alternative plans with my money.
Now, make my offer public knowledge for anyone who might negotiate with me in the future. Why wouldn’t you just pursue other offers until something better came around? I would lose control of negotiations in the future because of a deal today.
Bottom line is Ben should have taken the first deal the first year, and when the offer got smaller the next year, he should have taken that one. He passed up on about $10 million because his agent sucks and his ego is too big. The worst part about it for BG is now he’s going to be 30 when his next contract is up. He’ll likely get one more good deal, but it could have been much better if he was 28 during the first year of the contract.
I’m going to miss Ben as a player. I wish we would have signed him, but the blame goes to both the team and the player in this instance. After last season, the Bulls obviously planned for a life without him. In retrospect, that is why the insisted on Salmons in the deal with Sac-town. They needed a short term replacement for their best player. Now they’ll likely stand pat this off season and we’ll be about a 500 team, give or take a few wins… not great but good enough to get into the playoffs, and hope to attract a free agent. Not my preferred approach, but probably a logical one.
by 72-10 on Jul 6, 2009 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow, that one or two million is going to CRIPPLE the Pistons. Please.
People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. --Bruce Bartlett
by tyger1147 on Jul 6, 2009 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good Riddance BG7
the beauty of the NBA channel is watch the bulls playoff series with the celtics without emotion………if you people do the same you will see a short non defensive player hold onto to the ball to long and yes making a great shot……then you will see that same guy not ever try to fight thru a screen to contest a celtic player to make a game winning shot or send into overtime…….gordon stiffled roses’ development and what JR, Gar and Pax are saying THIS IS ROSE’S team not your s BG7….so to pay 10 mil a year for a 6th man is plain dumb……and yes i do think they have a plan……the trade to get salmons and miller was excellent……and i think the trade they plan to make to get bosh is going to smart as well…….so i think tyrus will have to eat is words when he says “He is the starting PF” yeah you are but in Canada…….
by bluezman7 on Jul 4, 2009 7:59 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Finally
Finally someone else has seen what I saw. Ben Gordon is was one of my favorite players, but he did not play defense. If he missed 5 shots in a row, he’d become even worse on defense. I don’t hold his height against him because he still did damage, but he is a defensive liability.
T.O. Estes III
by T.O.E. on Jul 4, 2009 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dude, he had a grade 2 hamstring tear in the playoffs
Seriously.
Vinny Del Negro Offensive Gameplan, Part 1
-When there's less than 30 seconds left in the game, that's me with my hands cupped around my mouth yelling.
"BEN! SHOOT! SHOOOOTTTT!!! WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?"
-This segues nicely into my Timeout Management classes - order now!
by Prevenge on Jul 6, 2009 3:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree
that the Bulls should have drafted a shooter, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt, AGAIN and hold my criticism until the season start.
T.O. Estes III
by T.O.E. on Jul 4, 2009 12:13 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
All I'm saying is
the goal of each offseason is to get better (unless you’re the Knicks), and by subtracting our leading scorer and best clutch shooter while adding to marginal draft picks we are not moving in that direction. I don’t want to hear the word rebuilding, because we’ve been rebuilding for more than a decade now.
by Rose Colored Goggles on Jul 4, 2009 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm just optimistic
The Bulls haved failed the offseason so far, but there is still half the off-season left. let’s hope they surprise us and doing something great.
T.O. Estes III
by T.O.E. on Jul 5, 2009 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
JR could sell the team or turn in over to the younger generation.
"Whoever was responsible for pulling that offer [to Ben Gordon] off the table...bring him before me and I'll punch him right in the face " - Frederick Pfeiffer
by Granny Waiters on Jul 5, 2009 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I actually think Johnson and Gibson were good picks for replacing Gordon.
They obviously knew all along they weren’t re-signing Gordon (damn us all for believing them) and they plan on starting John Salmons at SG next year. Well, you can’t start Salmons if you don’t have a back-up for Deng. So that’s Johnson. And you can’t use 3/4 tweening-Johnson as the SF backup/Deng-injury replacement if he also has to back up the PF spot. Thus, Gibson.
People should remember that while they have the right to their opinion, they are not entitled to be taken seriously. --Bruce Bartlett
by tyger1147 on Jul 6, 2009 8:17 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The trade was the first sign
in retrospect, it makes a ton of sense that they insisted on Salmons in the NOC trade. I think they knew from the moment he didn’t accept the deal last year that they needed to find another solution at that position.
by 72-10 on Jul 6, 2009 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Weren't they
including Ben Gordon in every trade deal before the eventual Salmons/Miller deal? Teams kept wanting Deng included (or when was this?) Still the organization is insane but having Gordon doens’t guarantee success so I’m indifferent as to him parting ways with the bulls.
don't let the bed bugs bite
by Rex Grossman on Jul 7, 2009 6:26 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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