Filed under: Bulls
There was nothing left to do but watch someone cave in. When it came down to it, Ben Gordon had the worse position with regard to his length negotiations with Chicago. With no trades apparently enviable, nor any team but the guard-gluttons in Memphis holding cap space, Gordon has relented and now prepares to sign a one-year qualifying offer, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, which will pay the man $6.4 million for 2008-09 and release him to unrestricted free agency next summer.
It's hardly even a small victory for the Bulls, though. The feature for Gordon is the coming freedom: the Bulls could match his previous contract request and still get snubbed due to bad feelings if one other team out there brings a hefty offer. The Bulls, basically, get a good player cheaply for one more season, a season in which the team doesn't expect to do more than win 45 games tops. Gordon helps, and you'd rather have him than not have him, sure. But it's a warm or fuzzy win.
Blog-a-Bull has previously done the figuring to surmise Gordon will have a market next summer. Of course, the virilence of said market depends on his performance this season. Chicago's guard gauntlet is a tricky cork, so hopefully Gordon will be able to make his impression on Vinny Del Negro quickly and get on track to a lucrative summer.
