Gordon Gone
Ben Gordon is signing a five-year deal worth $55 million dollars to play for the hated Detroit Pistons. I'm a little saddened by this. Gordon's not a superstar, or even an All-Star. He can't play defense to save his life, and he's not much of a passer. But what he's good at he's great at, and that's scoring. He can take over games and score on anybody. He can win two games in a playoff series practically by himself. He might completely disappear in the other five games, but he really can win two by himself. Tell me he's not a valuable guy to have around.
No matter what other moves the Bulls make this offseason, they're destined to be worse next season. Not necessarily worse than their seven seed, 41-41 record from last year. But worse than they were for the last six weeks of the season and first round of the playoffs, where they looked to be on the cusp of contending. Who's going to score for this team? I think Salmons might be able to pick up some of the slack, but he can't go off like Gordon can. Unless Rose takes a major step forward, they're moving back.
Speaking of the draft (?!), the Bulls picked up a couple of guys I never heard of. So that's why I didn't write about it. After reading their bios, though, and watching some highlights; I'm somewhat impressed but truthfully I'm more curious about the future of Tyrus Thomas. Talk about a guy showing flashes. Every fourth or fifth game, he's a dynamo. The rest of the time he's a complete non-factor. Nevertheless, I think the Bulls need to give him one more year. I'd hate to see him reach his potential in another uni, which really the boat we're in now with Ben.