Gordon says he's through with Bulls

Ben Gordon hosted a charity bowling event on Friday in Yonkers, N.Y., but his mind was on a contract stalemate with the Bulls.

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

The Bulls guard suggested his agent, Raymond Brothers, is exploring sign-and-trade possibilities with other teams.

"I'm pretty optimistic it'll happen," said Gordon, the Bulls' leading scorer for the past three seasons. "It's very likely."

Now, whether this is just wishful thinking on Gordon's part or a likely occurrence is anyone's guess. In order to work out a sign-and-trade, the restricted free agent would have to find a team willing to meet his salary requests, then work out an equitable trade with the Bulls.

The other team would likely have to agree to take back more salaries than they send to the Bulls, because the Bulls do not want to exceed the NBA's luxury-tax threshold. With the players already under contract, the Bulls have about $8.6 million left to spend on salaries next season before having to pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty on any excess above the $71.5-million tax threshold.

With the luxury tax in mind, the Bulls have offered Gordon a contract in the neighborhood of $59 million over six years. According to a source, Brothers is asking for $12 million per year, more than the $71 million over six years the Bulls just gave forward Luol Deng.

Beyond trying to avoid the luxury tax, the Bulls don't want to pay Gordon more than what they feel is fair market value. Otherwise, it could become difficult to trade Gordon in the future if other teams view him as overpaid.

The Bulls genuinely want to re-sign Gordon and helped sponsor the charity weekend benefiting Gordon's hometown of Mt. Vernon, N.Y. Negotiations with Brothers have not been fruitful to this point, however.

According to ESPN.com, Brothers said Gordon will not sign a one-year qualifying offer worth $6.4 million and become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but signing in Europe is a possibility.

Among the celebrity guests at Gordon's bowling event were former Bulls forward Elton Brand, a Peekskill, N.Y. native, and former Connecticut teammate Emeka Okafor. Gordon is raising money to help restore sports at Mt. Vernon High School, which were discontinued due to budget cuts.