Bulls figure to stand pat with Gordon gone

The Bulls lost their leading scorer of the past four seasons Wednesday when guard Ben Gordon agreed to join the Detroit Pistons as a free agent.

So what do the Bulls do next? Well, maybe nothing. Here's why:

Salmons already an option: Keep in mind, the Bulls essentially acquired Gordon's replacement last February when they got John Salmons in a trade from Sacramento. Now the Bulls hope Salmons' performance last March wasn't a mirage.

Stepping in for the injured Luol Deng, Salmons averaged 21.3 points, while shooting 50 percent overall and 43.5 percent from 3-point range in his first 15 games as a starter. He wasn't quite the same after suffering a groin injury in late March.

If Deng is healthy at the start of next season, the Bulls will most likely start Salmons at shooting guard and Deng at small forward, while Kirk Hinrich fills in at both guard spots.

Tough as it is to lose Gordon's scoring, the Bulls decided they would get only so far with a small backcourt. An argument could be made that Hinrich is a more valuable player, considering he can defend, score and handle the ball. Derrick Rose already began to take on some of the late-game scoring duties during his rookie season and that will continue.

Deep roster a luxury: The actual numbers won't be available until at least July 8, but informed speculation believes the NBA's salary cap and luxury-tax threshold, which is based on a percentage of revenue, will drop. The tax number is expected to fall from last year's $71.15 million to around $69 million.

The Bulls have 12 players under contract at $67.54 million. This includes center Aaron Gray, who received a qualifying offer from the Bulls, and both draft picks.

The Bulls are required to add a 13th player, which will probably be a backup point guard. Anthony Roberson and Demarcus Nelson might battle for that job in summer league, while the Bulls are very interested in bringing back veteran Lindsey Hunter as a player or coach.

Nothing says the Bulls can't pay a small amount of luxury tax next season. But obviously, they're not going to add much more to the payroll. So even low-priced free agents such as Rodney Carney or Kareem Rush are a long shot.

Cap room arrives in 2010: The No. 1 benefit to letting Gordon leave for Detroit is it opens salary-cap room for the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson and many others are expected to be on the open market.

Since the Bulls have roughly $23 million in expiring contracts between Brad Miller, Tim Thomas and Jerome James, they can keep the current roster intact and free up roughly $10 million-$12 million for next summer. That figure could rise or fall, depending on what the Bulls do with Tyrus Thomas. He's eligible to sign a contract extension later this summer or can become a restricted free agent next year. Talk that the Bulls were desperate to unload Thomas on draft night was false.

Is Boozer available? The Bulls wouldn't turn away Wade next summer, but their greatest need is a talented big man, and Toronto's Bosh is their dream acquisition, either in a trade or as a free agent next year.

The Raptors seem set on keeping Bosh this summer, with the hope they'll add a free agent such as Hedo Turkoglu, return to playoff contention next season and convince Bosh to stay long term.

Rather than wait on Bosh, the Bulls might try to get a jump on 2010 by targeting Boozer in a trade. Both Salt Lake City papers have suggested the Jazz plans to re-sign restricted free agent Paul Millsap this summer.

If Utah keeps Millsap, it will have two high-priced power forwards. Whether the Jazz will play another season with the current roster or look to lower its payroll is anyone's guess. Boozer could have opted out of his contract and become a free agent this summer but decided to stick it out for one more year at $12.7 million.

The downside to Boozer is he's been injury-prone and missed at least 45 games in two of the last four seasons. But he's also a better post scorer than Bosh or Stoudemire, and none of those three is an accomplished defenders. Boozer helped lead Utah to the Western Conference finals in 2007, averaging 23.5 points and 12.2 rebounds.

To answer the question of how the Bulls respond to losing Gordon, it's pretty simple: Unless they can pull off a deal for Bosh or Boozer, the Bulls figure to be done for the summer.