How Gordon's contract talks went down (Sam Smith)

dougthonus

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http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/asksam_090327.html

So basically the combination of all the rumors seems true. Gordon's story of the bulls pulling the offer is sort of accurate, but the implication was he didn't know they would pull it when instead they gave him fair warning and he figured they were bluffing.

I don't think this changes much for me, in the end, Gordon and the bulls are both at fault. The Bulls for not knowing what the hell they were doing. Why make the offer set an arbitrary dead line and then pull it? Were they scared that Michael Ruffin was going to get away, and if so, who gives a crap? So if you didn't want Gordon to take the offer, why have it out there for so long in the first place, and if you did, why set the arbitrary deadline and not let Gordon take it when he wanted to?

At the same time, if you're Gordon, you've got nothing to complain about. They set a deadline and kept it. You're pissed because you're likely screwed this off season, but it's your own fault. You let the offer sit there for 2+ months. You got a hard deadline. You should have taken it if you wanted it.

Either way, things didn't work out, that sucks for everyone.
 

Newskoolbulls

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I believe in Sam and we have pretty much herd this since the summer. I feel bad for Ben because it seems he has been getting bad advice from his agent. I would not be surprised if he fires Raymond Brothers right after the season. I dont blame either party because when its all said and done this is a business and Bulls need to make money as does BG.
 

dougthonus

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One thing that's interesting that no one talks about is if we had extended Gordon, we likely wouldn't have done the Salmons/Miller trade, because it would have set us up in the tax next season.
 

collisrost

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One interesting thing to think about is how the Bulls hard line stance from last off season is going to affect Ben's approach to negotiating this year. I mean since he knows the Bulls didn't budge when they gave him a deadline does that make him more likely to take an offer early from the Bulls if he thinks they'll pull it? I mean he must know he can't hardball the bulls again this year, so he'll have to play nice if he thinks the Bulls' offer might be the best one he could get.
 

dougthonus

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Gordon's situation is going to be interesting. There are a few teams he'll need to talk to right away:

Oklahoma City
Detroit
Memphis
Atlanta
Portland
Toronto (maybe)

If those teams say "no", then Gordon is completely screwed, and will have to contemplate taking a 1 year deal at MLE money or signing a long term deal at the MLE or maybe slightly more from the Bulls.

Of those teams, Memphis doesn't seem likely to be interested given their roster make up. Portland is awfully dicey to be interested given their roster make up and future upcoming salary commitments.

Toronto is close to having more than the MLE, it will depend where the cap is, and what draft choice they land.

That Hawks have 40 million in commitments, but they have Marvin Williams and Josh Childress as massive cap holds if they want to maintain their RFA rights on them. Bibby will also be a FA, so if they want to keep him, it will cost them something. They could be initially out of the picture, but jump back in later if things don't go anywhere with Marvin / Childress.

That leaves Oklahoma City and Detroit as the two teams that would seem to potentially have both a need and some room to make an offer. Oklahoma City will depend primarily on whether they see Westbrook / Gordon as good enough at PG in the backcourt. I don't think that's the case, as I don't think either is a PG, but they may feel differently.

Detroit, who knows, Dumars has said he wants to save money to pursue the really big fish, but who can tell. He's been very good at getting good players at reasonable deals rather than building around a star, so I could see him bidding on Gordon possibly. It depends if they feel they have a real chance at a 2010 guy I guess.

All in all, while it's highly possible that Gordon will find a good deal with one of these teams, it's also highly possible that he won't, and if he doesn't, Gordon is going to end up hard core screwed. At that point, I hope we step in and offer him 6/48 or so as an extension.
 

Dpauley23

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An interesting scenario is he could be included in a S+T deal for Bosh
 

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