Chicago Bulls scoring guard Ben Gordon will be a free agent this summer. The team reportedly offered him a reasonable, generous contract that Gordon didn’t want to accept.
But as is the case every off-season, only a small handful of teams will have salary cap space to offer anything more than the mid-level exception. And I see no reason to think that any of the squads that will have money available will offer Gordon a better deal than the Bulls did.
It’s very possible he winds up staying in Chicago.
Here’s the Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw):
Oklahoma City and Memphis are two teams that will have the ability to chase free agents. But as two of the league’s smallest markets, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if both teams decided to sit tight and spend little. Also, Gordon makes no sense for the Grizzlies since they have O.J. Mayo at two guard and the Thunder might have greater need for a point guard, depending on how they see rookie Russell Westbrook fitting in.
One team that figures to be planning a significant makeover is Detroit, which can create about $20 million in cap space by letting Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace walk away as free agents. With Wallace and possibly Antonio McDyess leaving, the Pistons’ top priority is a big man, with Carlos Boozer or Lamar Odom possible targets.
The Bulls see Gordon the same way they always have, as a scorer who still needs to improve other aspects of his game.
New York Newsday (Alan Hahn) reports (via blog): Chris Duhon, who used to regularly log 40-to-48 minutes a game for D’Antoni earlier in the season, played just 25:44 and had five points and three assists with three turnovers. He now has 30 turnovers in his past seven games, which is a concerning average of 4.2 per game. The former Dukie is also struggling with his shooting — 22 for 56 (39.2 percent) from the floor over the past seven games — which, along with the turnovers, points to fatigue. And that doesn’t bode well for the Knicks, with seven back-to-backs (including this weekend’s, which ends tonight against the Nets)… Duhon has played with a sore back for most of the entire season. You often see him trying to stretch it before games and it’s impossible not to notice his lack of explosiveness on drives to the basket (as a result, he almost always will look to pass on the pick-and-roll play, which opponents have picked up on).
The Chicago Tribune reports on Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas: The third-year forward set a franchise record Friday night by blocking at least one shot in his 24th consecutive game. The previous record of 23 had been shared with Ben Wallace (Jan.-March 2007) and Jawann Oldham (March-April 1985). Thomas set the mark with a second-quarter block of Luc Mbah a Moute’s layup attempt. During the streak, Thomas, who had two blocks Friday, has 49 overall.
The Washington Wizards welcomed President Barack Obama to tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls.