What Should The Bulls Do With Ben Gordon?

The scoring machine could be a valuable trade chip

By TOM FORNELLI

Updated 12:36 PM CST, Sat, Nov 15, 2008

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During the offseason I thought that Ben Gordon was as good as gone. Considering that the Bulls already had a logjam in the backcourt with Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Thabo Sefolosha, and the Chosen One Derrick Rose, I figured John Paxson was going to do everything in his power to orchestrate some kind of sign and trade. Whether he tried to or not, it obviously never happened since Little Ben is still in Chicago wearing a Bulls jersey this season.

Of course, we know he won't be next year. After Ben plays out the season in Chicago he's going to become an unrestricted free agent and somebody is going to give him a lot of money, and he'll be gone. All of which makes me wonder if the Bulls and John Paxson should start exploring trade possibilities.

Trading Gordon though is a two-edged sword. On one side there's the fact that this is a contract year for Ben, and in the NBA players who are in their contract year tend to have huge seasons. After the Bulls first nine games Ben is averaging 21.6 points a game, but in his last five games after shaking off the rust from missing most of the preseason, he's playing at a 27.4 points per game clip. That's a full 9.3 points higher than his career average.

So when you look at it that way, Gordon's value to the Bulls is never going to get higher. Of course if the Bulls trade Ben they're going to have to find a way to replace all those points, and I'm not sure if there's anybody on the roster capable of doing it (though God knows Larry Hughes would be more than willing to try).

Still as presently constructed this Bulls team is a possible playoff team, but they won't be anything other than a seventh or eighth seed who would be bounced out of the first round by the Celtics or Cavaliers so when you look at it that way, the team doesn't have that much to lose.

The truth is that no matter how many points Ben scores for the Bulls, he is, and always will be, a 5'11 -- I don't care if he's listed as 6'3, I've met the man before and I'm 6'2 and a good two or three inches taller than him. Oh, and by "met" I mean I saw him out at a club one night. -- offensive oriented guard who only goes back on defense because he has too. If the Bulls can move him for another, taller guard, who can contribute on both ends of the court they'd be foolish not to consider it. It would only make the team better in the long run, and it's a lot better option than letting him walk away for nothing after the season's over.