Great Britain coach, Chris Finch, has given Ben Gordon an August 19th ultimatum to resolve his contract situation with the Bulls and join the Great Britain squad in Belgium for the second part of Great Britain’s training camp in preparation for the European Championship Qualifying Tournament. Finch is understanding of Gordon’s situation as Gordon was open and honest about how he was going to handle this since the beginning.

Finch said: “We understand Ben’s position and he has been consistent and up front with us about it all year.

“But when our training camp moves to Belgium later this month, we need him with us if he is going to play.

“That would give him nearly two weeks of practice before we open our group games against Israel and a player of his quality could easily integrate into our team in that time.” ((http://www.basketball247.co.uk/news/archives/00000145.shtml))

It is beginning to look more and more likely that Gordon’s contract situation will not be resolved by then, and he will end up not playing for Great Britain this summer. Gordon is having difficulty getting the Bulls to go into the luxury tax this year. ((http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9692)) At this point, it seems that Gordon will likely end up on the Bulls qualifying offer.

It is unfortunate that the Bulls are blocking this great opportunity for Gordon and his Bulls teammate, Luol Deng, to play together in a structured, competitive situation during the summer. Given the Bulls chemistry woes last season, you would imagine that the Bulls would be doing everything they could to try to get a deal done with Gordon, so him and Deng, the Bulls current top two players, could go play together for a month and a half before training camp starts. Unfortunately, Bulls ownership does not seem committed to winning at this juncture.

John Paxson appeared on ESPN 1000’s Waddle and Silvy to discuss the Deng signing, the Gordon negotiations, and potential trades.

Paxson said that it is a done deal with Luol Deng. He refused to give out the terms of the deal or the incentives. He sees Deng being a better player next year with Derrick Rose. He thinks there is now a comfort level on both sides and that Deng will be able to take a deep breath and not worry about anything for awhile.

Deng never gave the Bulls an ultimatum of August 4th. Paxson thinks that this was just something that got planted in the media for negotiating leverage. They knew from the beginning that Luol preferred to have some certainty of his contract situation by the time he left to London.

Looking back at last year, Paxson is still amazed at how everything just went wrong from the beginning. Starting with the contracts not getting done, then the outsider perspective of things falling apart and the Bulls not treating their players well, and also the Kobe rumor. He thinks it is unfair to question Deng’s mental makeup when everyone on the team had a down year, although he thinks that it is human nature for uncertainty in one’s job life to affect them. Paxson appreciates all the hard work and all he’s done for the organization and thinks that Luol’s best days are ahead of him.

Paxson thinks that Gordon has every right to explore Europe as an option. It is the reality of the business with the current rules that restricted free agents have to explore options like this. Paxson says that Gordon has the right to explore his options in Europe, signing an offer sheet with another team, and finding a sign and trade. Paxson thinks a sign and trade will be difficult because the other team has to pay Gordon what he wants while also making the deal attractive to the Bulls. Paxson maintains that he wants to resign Gordon and that this has always been his intention. He says that negotiations aren’t just throwing a figure down and having it magically get done. Now with Luol Deng signed, the team can look at their budget sheeets and come to more of a certainty on what they can offer Gordon.

Paxson also said that he is always working the phones. He would like to get a deal done to clear out the guard glut and balance the roster. He never intended for the backcourt to get this crowded, but that it just happened as a result of the Bulls landing the top pick and drafting Derrick Rose. He says that he will not make a money deal unless it gives them flexibility to pull off another move. He did not say whether that move has to be a trade, or if it is giving them cap space to possibly sign a blockbuster free agent.

Also, Paxson said that Derrick Rose’s knee concerns are not serious. Vinny went down to Vegas to watch Rose play for the Select Team and thought Derrick looked great. It is just tendinitis in Derrick’s knee and there is nothing structurally wrong.

The interview can be listened to at ESPN1000.com.