The Journal News reports on Ben Gordon wanting a new contract:


Gordon, 24, is about to embark on the final year of the four-year rookie contract he signed with the Bulls in 2004 after getting drafted out of Connecticut.

"The Bulls have an opportunity to extend my contract with them this summer," Gordon said yesterday. "So I’m hoping something gets done and I won’t have to wait another year to see what’s going to happen. I’ve done everything possible I could have done to help my team get to the playoffs, and I think it’s up to them right now to see if they want to make a long-term commitment."

"If you look at other players around the league that are doing things similar to what I’ve done in my past year and throughout my career, I just want to get that equal respect," said Gordon, who’ll become a restricted free agent after the upcoming season if he fails to sign an extension. "And that’s all it’s really about. The money I make is going to be more than I’ve ever made, so it really just boils down to getting your just due and your respect."

Ugh, I hate it when players start publicly equating respect with money.

That said...pay him anyway or trade him. As cheap as this team has been for the last 8 years and as much $ as they've raked in from selling out that stadium...no excuse not to go into luxury tax territory.

Does anyone know if there have been discussions between Ben and the Bulls? Obviously Luol is the #1 priority, but Ben is a key guy for this team.

When Ben becomes a consistent scorer and loses his turnstile defense, he can THEN talk about respect.

those are areas he has dramatically improved upon since coming into the league... and there is no reason to believe they won't continue to improve.


I'm not a fan of negotiating through the media, but I think he can talk about respect as long as the team negotiating with him is offering him below market value...

There is also absolutely nothing stopping the team from just letting him hit the RFA market and matching whatever offer is given to him if they can't come to an agreement.

I predicted before the summer that the contract extension for Gordon could turn out to be very difficult.

This is just the start of what could become a very ugly process. Paxson just pay Gordon a good amount and get this over with. The last thing I need (and I can see happening) is for Paxson to low ball Gordon and upset him, then try and turn fans on Gordon, and ultimately trade away a disgruntled Gordon for less than what he's worth. I can see all three playing out. That's why I would rather pay Gordon something close to what he wants and get it over with. It's not like you would be overpaying a crappy player. Gordon has done nothing but work hard since coming to the Bulls and unlike some superstars, I don't see him changing that after he signs a big contract.

Get it done Paxson. Then sign Deng for something higher than what you signed Gordon to make Deng happy and to show him how much you respect him.

John Paxson has proven one thing to me over and over and over since he took this job; he is not an idiot. Just think about how many intelligent moves this guy has made, the trade for Deng, Front-loading these contracts to help with the luxury tax in a year or two, the deals with the Knicks, the moves in the draft that even I questioned at first until I started seeing the results...etc.

John Paxson will not be stupid enough to let Ben Gordon walk for nothing, nor will he be stupid enough to deal Ben Gordon for less than he's worth. Other teams have repeatedly tried to low-ball us in asking for Gordon and Deng for something, Pax has been smart enough to laugh those off because he knows what kind of talent he has.

If Gordon wants a max contract...we may well have to wait to see if anyone else offers that to him and then match it. But there is no reason at all why we can't do exactly that.

I am going to post this, because it doesn't happen very often.

I agree 100% Balta

I agree with Balta also. Great insight.

The fact that gordon cant defend his own position will keep him from deng-type money. That and the fact that thabo can.

Kobe Bryant can officially opt out of his contract after this season (im pretty sure?)... it makes sense NOT to sign him to a long term deal now.. If you are going to lock someone down, it better be Deng!

It doesn't really matter if Kobe opts out, the Bulls would still need to make at least one trade to be able to bring Kobe to Chicago. If they wanted to flat out sign him on the open market, they would need to trade away a lot of salaries first.

its not next year, it's two years

play some D, make the all star team, get us to the NBA finals and win. THEN we can talk respect