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Ben Gordon took a step towards closure with the Chicago Bulls over failed negotiations on Friday when he told Chris Broussard from ESPN the Magazine that he has played his last game representing the Windy City.

"I guess it's safe to say I've played my last game in a Bulls uniform," Gordon said.

Gordon's agent, Raymond Brothers, said he has been speaking to other teams about sign and trade possibilities, while Europe also remains an option for the Bulls' leading scorer. Gordon said he will not accept the team's qualifying offer worth $6.4 million for one season, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2009-2010.

"I'm pretty optimistic it'll happen," said Gordon, who averaged 18.6 points last season. "It's very likely."

So where is he ending up....?

Mexico!

olympiakos

he's not reall in a position to make those statements

Rasheeed!!! wrote:he's not reall in a position to make those statements

Exactly, unless his agent already found a suitor....

Even if they find a suitor, do the bulls like what they are going to get back?

tensai wrote:Even if they find a suitor, do the bulls like what they are going to get back?

He's not going anywhere if we don't like what we're getting back.

sonny wrote:

tensai wrote:Even if they find a suitor, do the bulls like what they are going to get back?

He's not going anywhere if we don't like what we're getting back.

If he's smart he'll go to Europe.

Hopefully straight to hell or Philippines Basketball League. People are starving and this guy won't take a very fair offer. It's not even like he's getting low balled. I could understand that. He's straight dissing a very legit decent offer.

Europe

I don't think he is getting lowballed either
didn't he get offered 5yrs/50 mill?
I think he is worth closer to 8mill per.

I don't think anyone will beat the Bulls offer... so if he isn't willing to go the qualifying Europe is his only option.

noido wrote:I don't think he is getting lowballed either
didn't he get offered 5yrs/50 mill?
I think he is worth closer to 8mill per.

I don't think anyone will beat the Bulls offer... so if he isn't willing to go the qualifying Europe is his only option.

Agree. 5/50 is pretty damn reasonable for an undersized, one dimensional guard. He's just another one of these guys with an over inflated sense of self-worth, and it'll probably bite him in the ass as it often does. Then again, when you look around and see what a guy like Rashard Lewis was able to get last Summer you just never know.

It'll serve him right if he does have to take less money to play Overseas for a year.

won't the Bulls have right to Gordon if he goes to Europe and later tries to return to the nba?

Entire Bulls roster is overpaid, Ben Gordon isn't asking for anything extraordinary. Meh, I want to see then depend on Hinrcih/Rose for points. If Ben does get a deal close to Childress then Ben will be alright.

Cowology wrote:It'll serve him right if he does have to take less money to play Overseas for a year.

With the value of the dollar the way it is, Ben probably will be wondering why he didn't pursue this option first. Less money, ya right.

he wants to get paid. Memphis? nah. Europe perhaps. buh-bye.

I hope Ben Gordon get's exiled to the inferior leagues in Europe, a message needs to be sent to these players who think they're worth a lot more than they really are.

Bye-bye Ben, you can chuck to your heart's delight overseas.

He's going to Dallas for Jason Terry and Brandon Bass.

Remember, you heard it here first.

While he's been unfairly and incorrectly labeled one-dimensional and a chucker by most, Gordon's still not nearly as valuable as he thinks he is. He clearly thinks he is better than Deng (and ought to be paid more than him) because he scores a few more points per game, but for several reasons, Ben is simply the inferior player.

Good riddance, Ben. Thabo will get many of your minutes and prove himself to be better than you as well.

I could care less....

He's acting as if he's this superstar who's being insulted by the offer he's been given, when he was given more than enough last summer, but turned it down.

BooRadley wrote:Hopefully straight to hell or Philippines Basketball League. People are starving and this guy won't take a very fair offer. It's not even like he's getting low balled. I could understand that. He's straight dissing a very legit decent offer.

To be honest, it IS as though he's getting lowballed. Basically, ALL NBA players are overpaid and guys not on their rookie contracts are pretty much universally considered to be so. Just because Deng and Josh Smith were both screwed over in free agency doesn't suddenly mean that the market is so much lower than it really is. Relatively speaking, though, let's take a look at other non-elite 2-guards who are known for average or worse defense make when they aren't on rookie contracts and see where Gordon's salary demands would put him and where the Bulls offer would put him.

Jason Richardson - $13 a season avg.
Larry Hughes - $13 mil a season avg.
Rip Hamilton - $11 mil a season avg.
Monta Ellis - $11 mil a season avg.
Mike Dunleavy - $10 mil a season avg.
Michael Redd - $16.5 mil a season avg.
Jamal Crawford - $10 mil a season avg.
Kevin Martin - $11 mil a season avg.

Gordon isn't the best or worst player on that list but really, other than a couple players being slightly underpaid relative the list it seems like it wouldn't be hard at all to make the argument that Gordon is worth a deal around at least $11 mil a season. It's easy to say that most of that list is overpaid but when you start dropping down a tier or two and seeing what guys like Jason Terry and Bobby Jackson are paid then that salary for Gordon seems even more justifiable. It's pretty clear, though, that Gordon is worth more than the $59 mil over 6 years the Bulls are reputedly offering him. I'd definitely rather have Gordon on my team than Jamal Crawford.