Gordon can only play waiting game when he becomes free agent
Ben Gordon wrapped up his weeklong basketball camp at the Bulls/Sox Training Academy in Lisle by telling the kids a story from his college days.
According to Gordon, he knew he'd be vying for playing time with his summer roommate. So every day at 5 a.m., he'd sneak out of bed (top bunk), go to the gym and fire off about 500 jumpers, then return to the room and act like he'd been asleep all night.
His message to the campers was they need to do everything possible to get an edge if they want to be great players.
Is there anything Gordon can do to get an edge in contract negotiations when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1? Probably not. When the clock strikes midnight, all he can do is wait for an offer to arrive.
"Honestly, right now I'm at the point where I'm just waiting," Gordon said after the camp. "I'm definitely excited to see what's going to happen. As far as being anxious, not for a minute."
Gordon would love to receive a competitive offer from the Bulls on July 1, but that probably won't happen. The Bulls will most likely let the 6-foot-2 shooting guard measure the market before making a move. Detroit, Oklahoma City and Memphis are the teams with significant cap room.
The Bulls would like to re-sign Gordon at a reasonable price and are open to a sign-and-trade deal if it brings a useful player in return. What the Bulls don't want is to lose their leading scorer and get nothing in return other than a better chance at cap space in 2010.
Last year, the Bulls' offer was believed to be in the neighborhood of $54 million over six years. Gordon turned it down, then tried to accept it after training camp began, but the team pulled it off the table.
It seemed apparent that negotiations between the Bulls and Gordon's agent, Raymond Brothers, were acrimonious at times. But Gordon still believes his agent did everything possible to get the best deal.
"I think my agent did a good job," he said. "At the end of the day, it's a business. People talk about bad blood between the front office and my agent. I think my agent is being very professional. I don't really know where the bad blood or animosity would come from. I think both sides are mature enough to kind of put any hard feeling aside and work things out."
Gordon's leverage was hurt last summer when teammate Luol Deng agreed to a six-year, $71-million deal. The Bulls were refusing to go into luxury tax territory, which limited the amount they would offer Gordon.
"I think the way everything went down, they knew exactly what they were doing with each player," Gordon said. "I just thought at the end of the day, they thought Lu was a better investment for them.
"Somebody had to get the money and it didn't get split down the middle. It was definitely a tough situation. I just think it was kind of an odd situation."
Of course, Gordon went on to average 20.7 points and shoot 45.5 percent from the field, while Deng missed 40 games because of injuries and had his worst season statistically since his rookie year of 2004-05. The luxury tax may not be as much of an issue this year, given the Bulls' promising performance in the playoffs and more than $20 million in expiring contracts.
"I think it's evident what I bring to the table," Gordon added. "If that's not enough, the Bulls can make a decision to go in another direction.
"I've been a good citizen in the community. I've always been about my team. I've always promoted a professional culture around the team. I've never gotten into any problems or altercations since I've been here. I've always been a positive for the Bulls franchise. I think all the things I've done pretty much speak for themselves."