Bulls fans know the Ben Gordon roller coaster all too well. He can light up opposing teams with instant offense, give you 20 to 30 points when he’s hot and come up with a clutch basket when needed. On the flip side, he can also turn the ball over, hoist questionable shots, and be a defensive liability. Well, the roller coaster ride is now over in Chicago.
Gordon is heading to the rival Detroit Pistons, signing a five-year, $55 million deal. You cannot question Gordon leaving for that kind of money, but you can question why he turned down similar deals the past two off seasons. Gordon turned down a five-year, $50 million contract after the 2007 season and a six-year, $54 million contract after the 2008 season. Instead, he accepted a one-year qualifying offer worth $6.4 million to stay with the Bulls during the 2008-09 season.
Now that he is a Piston, there is no doubt the Bulls will miss Gordon’s scoring. In his career, he’s averaged 18.5 points per game and lead the Bulls in scoring for the past four seasons. This upcoming season their starting line-up will most likely be Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose and John Salmons in the back court, Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas at the forwards, and Joakim Noah at center. Veteran guard Kirk Hinirch, center Brad Miller, and a stop gap solution via free agency should come off the bench to round out the everyday rotation.
Does that rotation put the fear of God into opposing teams? Probably not. Gordon aside, the next best scoring option for the Bulls last season was John Salmons, who averaged 18.3 points per game. After Salmons were Rose, who averaged 16.8 points per game, and Deng , who averaged 14.1 points per game, the lowest average since his rookie season in 2005. There is a chance that both Rose and Deng’s scoring averages could go up, but there is also a chance Rose could have a sophomore slump and the oft-injured Deng could get hurt…again.
The Bulls new starting line-up might be better defensively, with Rose being the only liability at this moment. Last season the Bulls averaged 102.2 points per game but gave up 102.5 points per game. Defense was definitely an issue, and if the Bulls’ defense improves, that might help them at least make up for potential scoring problems.
It’s also worth noting that had the Bulls resigned Gordon, the cap hit would have hurt their chances of possibly landing a superstar from the much anticipated 2010 free agent class. Don’t get me wrong. Gordon is a very good player who might emerge as an all-star someday, but the Bulls have the chance to use their $25 million dollars in cap space to obtain a sure-fire superstar in the 2010 offseason. Believe me, some of these names are just flat out better than Gordon. Names like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, and Joe Johnson.
The realistic targets for the Bulls are said to be Wade, Stoudemire and Bosh, with both Stoudemire and Bosh being mentioned in trade talks involving the Bulls and Wade being a Chicago native. Are these players better than Gordon? Absolutely. Are any of them guaranteed to become Bulls in the summer 2010? No, but you hope that a nice contract and a potential star like Rose can help lure at least one top tier player to the Windy City.
The 2009-10 season might not be very thrilling without Gordon. Following their first round classic against the Boston Celtics in last season’s NBA playoffs, experts, like TNT’s Doug Collins, thought the Bulls would be the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference in 2010 as long as Luol Deng was healthy and Gordon was resigned. So, with Deng rehabbing and Gordon now in Detroit, the Bulls will probably take a step back. How far back? It depends. IF Rose increases his scoring average and IF Luol Deng stays healthy and IF they improve on defense, then the Bulls could contend for a low seed in the east. However, that is a lot of ifs that need to come into fruition.
So, the answer is tricky. Are the Bulls better off without Gordon? This upcoming season? No. In the long run? Yes.
