Gordon, Deng could restrict Bulls overhaul
The Bulls have some experience dealing with restricted free agents. Since John Paxson became general manager in 2003, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry all hit restricted free agency after four seasons with the team.
Chandler re-signed with the Bulls, then was traded a year later. Crawford and Curry both left in sign-and-trade deals with the Knicks.
One thing those three players all had in common was they disappeared during their free-agent summers and rarely, if ever, set foot in the Berto Center.
Ben Gordon and Luol Deng officially will become restricted free agents July 1. Questioned on Friday, neither was sure of his summer plans.
"It's funny you ask that," Gordon said. "Usually what I do since I've been in the league is alternate where I stay. I usually spend one summer in New York, one summer in Chicago. Next summer's my New York summer. It just happened by chance, I guess."
So Gordon may spend his summer in New York, where he usually works out at a Manhattan sports club, but he maintained that it would have nothing to do with being a free agent.
"I don't see why guys would stay away," he said. "I don't know what's behind it. I usually just like to find somewhere good to work out and that's about it."
Gordon and Deng are arguably the Bulls' two best players, so restricted free agency figures to complicate any efforts to retool the roster this summer. Neither side has complete control over what happens.
The players could re-sign with the Bulls, which means they could not be traded until Dec. 15 of next season. They would have to agree to any sign-and-trade with another team.
Gordon and Deng also could sign a one-year qualifying offer and become unrestricted free agents in 2009. In that case, they could not be traded next season without their consent. Likewise, if the Bulls matched an offer sheet received from another team, Gordon and Deng would have veto power over any trade for one year.
Oddly enough, Deng and Gordon expect to be teammates later in the summer with the Great Britain national team. Deng played for the British squad last year for the first time and helped lift it into the upper division of European championship qualifying.
"We play in late August, September, six games," said Deng, who was born in Sudan but considers London his hometown.
Gordon was born in London and plans to join the national team this year, even though he moved to New York before he was a year old. His mother originally is from Jamaica.
"I'm supposed to be sitting down with some of the people on the committee in April," Gordon said. "We're going to sit down and talk about the schedule and everything. I'm going to find out all the details."