Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Ben Gordon would like to become a member of the New York Knicks.

This isn’t too shocking, and a predictable outcome. Ben Gordon really wanted to play for Mike D’Antoni, and was gravely disappointed when D’Antoni signed with the Knicks. Perhaps Gordon would have taken the Bulls $59 million offer over 6 years, with a ETO, if D’Antoni was the coach. D’Antoni’s style would allow Gordon to flourish, and he would have been able to cash out in 4 years with the ETO. It looks like Ben Gordon still might be itching for D’Antoni.

New York’s onwership has also proven in the past that they don’t care about turning a profit and just winning, as seen by their -$42.2 million operating income last year.

The Bulls sign and trade options with the Knicks would be limited though. The most logical move for the Bulls would be a massive salary dump on the Bulls behalf, involving Stephon Marbury’s near $22 million contract. However, Paxson has stated that he will not make any money moves and just moves to make the team better.

This leaves a trifecta of poor options. Jamal Crawford offers the Bulls a big combo guard who can, in theory, score. The problem with Crawford is he is a horribly inefficient scorer.

Then you have Eddy Curry, a great scorer. The problem with Curry is that he is a poor defender, and you cannot have the man who controls the entire defense being one of the worst defenders at his position in the league.

Then the other option is Zach Randolph, who could be our low post scorer. The problem with Randolph is he is horrible on defense and isn’t a very efficient scorer. It is no wonder why all of Randolph’s teams have been terrible. When you allow a player who scores as inefficiently as Randolph to get enough shots to get his 20 PPG, you are going to be bad, since your team will be scoring many of their points inefficiently.

The Knicks probably will seriously pursue this. The Knicks have failed at establishing a wining culture, and Gordon would help in that department. And of course, Ben Gordon would instantly become the best player on the Knicks.

Also, don’t ignore the Isiah Thomas factor. He is still hanging on with the Knicks in some capacity. Maybe his special role with the team is to work on getting Ben Gordon on the Knicks, well that, or scrubbing Dolan’s toilet.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Chuck Swirsky was able to interview K.C. Johnson, a writer for the Chicago Tribune at the Orlando Summer League.

Breaking down the Bulls moving forward, Johnson says Derrick Rose is the first addition. Next is to tackle the free agent situation. The Bulls are not going to make any moves until they have cost certainty with Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. The Bulls pride themselves on being a fiscally responsible organization. After that is sorted out, he thinks the Bulls will make a trade, but he has no idea who they’re targeting.

He thinks both Ben Gordon and Luol Deng took a step back last year, but he thinks it’s best to just wipe last year off the board entirely, because the entire team took a step back. He sees Gordon as a specialty player who can score in bunches but who has to improve his defense and decision making to become a complete player. He sees Luol Deng as a good player, who added a nice wrinkle in his game at the end of last year with some post moves. He thinks the questions about Deng’s athleticism are legitimate and that Deng needs to work on finishing at the rim.

Johnson wants to see the Bulls add another athletic big man. He thinks Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah are too big of question marks. He thinks the Bulls need one more athletic big man that can run the floor and also be a defensive presence. He has heard that Marcus Camby is available.

He does not see summer league as being important at all. HE has seen guys dominate summer league and do nothing in the NBA and has seen other guys do horrible go on to be great in the NBA. The Bulls are putting in an entire new offense and defense with a bunch of guys who won’t even be on the team during the season, so they should have been expected to be bad.

Derrick was upset after the game that no one was running the break with him. Derrick expects guys to be right up there with him. Noah and Thomas both have the ability to run the floor and they need to bring that this season.

The interview can be listened to at Bulls.com