Dwyane Wade and Miami Are Bulls Biggest Competition For Gordon
March 15th, 2009 by Andrew WamboldtBack during the 2003 NBA draft, John Paxson pegged an exciting guard coming from Marquette, who was fresh out of the Final Four as a potential star. The Heat were supposed to take Kirk Hinrich or Chris Kaman, and Dwyane Wade was to fall to the Bulls at seventh in the draft. Pat Riley, who kept his cards close to his vest, upset the Bulls draft plans by taking Wade with the fifth overall pick. The decision was a great one, and Miami has already ridden their superstar to a championship.
This summer, the Bulls will again have to beware of Pat Riley. The Heat seem sure to be interested in the Bulls’ unrestrictred free agent guard, Ben Gordon. This past summer, the Heat agreed to send Shawn Marion’s expiring contract to Chicago in exchange for Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni’s longterm deal, but the Bulls wisely declined. This summer, the Bulls will have to watch out for Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade recruiting Gordon to become a part of the Heat.
Because of Miami’s lack of state income tax, the Heat can stay competitive with the Bulls up to an $8 million per a year offer from the Bulls. Where does that leave the Bulls minimum offer at? Pretty much the $54 million over 6 year offer that the Bulls offered to Gordon last year.
Miami is a situation that makes a lot of sense for Gordon. He would get to be a starter, and get to play with one of the best players in the game, in Dwyane Wade. For the first time in his career, Gordon will be a second thought for the opposing defense, which should really free him up for some open shots. When Ben Gordon is wide open, he is deadly. Him and Wade could be a dynamic duo, who along with Michael Beasley, could compete for championships for years to come.
This past September, Dwyane Wade seemingly telepathed to Gordon that he should take the Bulls qualifying offer, when talking to the Chicago Suntimes Carol Slezak.
“He’s in a tough situation. Ben is a very good player. He’s taken a lot of knocks from people saying he’s not tall enough or he doesn’t play good defense. But scoring-wise he’s one of the best in the game.
“I think a player like him just has to understand that you have to do what you feel is right. Whatever you feel in your heart, you’ve got to go with it. You can’t do nothing that you don’t want to do, because you’re not going to give it your all. So he wants to make [Chicago] his home, do it. If not, wait it out.
“I don’t think he should go to Europe. I don’t think he’s at the Europe stage. He’s just such a good player. There are a lot of teams in the states that would love to have him. I just think he needs to be patient. But he could hop and go for it, and continue to start a trend that’s happening over there.
“His game is what his game is. Ben will score. He’s a great offensive scorer, a great catch-and-shoot player. That’s not going to change. As long as there’s a basketball and a rim, he’s going to be able to do the same thing.
Letting Ben Gordon slip away to the Miami Heat would be a double edged sword. Not only would the Bulls be losing their best player, but he would also be going to a conference rival. With a core of Dwyane Wade, Ben Gordon, and Michael Beasley, and the ability to still sign a 2010 free agent, the Heat would be a major obstacle for the Bulls in the playoffs every year.
How can the Bulls avoid this doomsday scenario? By coming out with an aggressive offer. Re-offering the $54 million offer that the Bulls pulled off the table and wouldn’t let Ben sign would be a minimum. A $60 million offer would greatly improve the Bulls chances.
Here is a scenario that is likely to play out. Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, and Micky Arison will fly out to meet with Gordon. Pat Riley will begin by talking about what a special player Gordon is. The Heat will probably put some type of option in Gordon’s contract, and will talk about how they can pay him more money when they acquire his bird rights. Dwyane Wade will then appeal to Gordon as a potential teammate, and talk up how he thinks him and Gordon will be a great duo who could win a championship together. The Bulls best defense to this plan of attack by the Heat? Giving Ben Gordon a fair contract offer.
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Tags: 2003 NBA Draft, Andres Nocioni, Ben Gordon, Carol Slezak, Chris Kaman, Dwyane Wade, free agency 2009, John Paxson, Kirk Hinrich, Micky Arison, MLE, Pat Riley, qualifying offer, Shawn Marion
March 15th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Hey Andrew, does this mean that Gordon would play PG if he does go to the Heat? Eventhough BG is not a PG, I have always thought he could if he wanted to. BG’s defense may look really good if he plays against PGs while Wade plays against the bigger SG in the league. I hope he does sign with the Heat since he gets no respect in Chicago. I’ll miss BG but I’ll know that he will do well in Miami.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Recently in an interview with Jillian Jesk of Mouthpiece Sports, Ben said that he would still like to be a point guard in the league.
I would imagine that Gordon and Wade would share the point guard duties.
One thing that I really noticed out of Gordon this year, is that he is a very capable point guard in the fastbreak. I think, at this point, better than Derrick Rose (although Rose should be better given his speed and ball handling advantage over Gordon long term). But Gordon really pushes the ball in transition and is good at finishing on the fastbreak, and has gotten much better at making good decisions on the fastbreak. He is one of the NBA’s top fastbreak scorers this year, which is a new aspect to his game.
I would think that Gordon would be the guy they get the ball to to run the fastbreak, but if nothing develops in transition, then they would set up the offense with Wade as the “point”.
It’ll be a real shame if the Bulls lose Gordon, since the ball is really in their court. They’re one of the few teams that won’t be affected too much by this economic crisis, so they can really afford to pay Gordon quite easily.
If Gordon were to leave the Bulls, the Spurs would be my preferred destination to see him go to. I’ve always been a big fan of the Big Fundamental, and really like what Popovich has done as a coach.
But I wouldn’t mind seeing Gordon in Miami. Miami has two players, that it is no secret, that I really really like in Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley. Living ~20 minutes South of Milwaukee when Wade was at Marquette, I got to see Wade play in person while he was at Marquette, and he was amazing. Watched almost every Marquette game Wade’s last two years. He created a real frenzy in Southeast Wisconsin. Everyone in Southeast Wisconsin thought Wade was going to be a superstar, and it was devastating when the Heat nabbed him up at number five.
I really like Michael Beasley’s game. It resembles Dirk Nowitzki, but obviously he isn’t quite as physically gifted as Dirk, as he is ~5 inches shorter. But he has some nice skills, and I think he will be a good piece going forward.
I think Miami will provide Ben a good situation to win in, and also be a great player in. Ben is a good person, and has done a lot of good for the Bulls franchise since being here. If he leaves the Bulls, I will miss him, I will still watch him with his new team a bit, and be disappointed that I won’t get to watch him all 82 games of the year, and I’ll hope that he goes on to have a great career…except when he’s playing the Bulls. (He can have a big game against the Bulls, but his team has to lose.)