Five days ago, a story circulated out from the Greek media that CSKA Moscow was offering Ben Gordon $5.5 million for his services. Then on Friday, the general manager of CSKA Moscow came out saying that they were not having any negotiations with Ben Gordon.

So this should be the end all be all, Gordon’s agent made up a story about Gordon getting an offer from CSKA Moscow, right? Not quite. I think it is only fair to approach everything we see involving these negotiations with immense sceptism. As pointed by bullzman23 on the RealGM forums, it is quite possible that Jerry Reinsdorf planted this story.

Back in 2003, the Bulls entered into an ugly negotiation with Scott Skiles, that of course ended with Skiles saying he wanted the Bulls to not pick up his option to coach that year. This is not that dissimilar from the Ben Gordon situation, of course Gordon has handled this situation with more professionalism than Skiles did. Skiles of course decided to come back to the Bulls because he loved the players he was coaching. During these ugly negotiations, Skiles charged that the Bulls had media henchmen.

Scott Skiles said on this subject:

“It’s gone on for so long now — ever since February — that I don’t think anything is going to change at this point,” Skiles said. “The thing is, they sent [a media] henchman after me [Monday] morning, and I knew it was coming. [A certain reporter] would write an article accusing me of being greedy.

Source: Chicago Suntimes

It just really doesn’t make sense for the Raymond Brothers to have been the ones to have start this rumor. Yes, stating a rumor that a European team wants Gordon makes a lot of sense, but the amount that CSKA Moscow was rumored to be offering Gordon was less than the Bulls are offering on a yearly basis. (CSKA Moscow was offering the NBA equivalent of a $8.9 million per a year, while the Bulls are rumored to be offering $9.8 million per a year).

Why would the Raymond Brothers start a rumor that Ben Gordon is being offered less to play in Russia than he is by the Bulls? That only hurts Gordon’s value and gives him absolutely no leverage against the Bulls. Raymond Brothers can’t be that dumb, otherwise they wouldn’t have the clients they do today.

This type of story, however, would serve the agenda of Jerry Reindsorf and the Bulls front office quite well. This type of story damages Gordon’s value, even if the Greek story were to not be refuted later. The refutation by the general manager of CSKA Moscow only ensured that Gordon came out looking like a fool.

Why would the general manager of CSKA Moscow want to get involved in this dance between the Bulls front office and Gordon? Well back in February, the Bulls bought out Viktor Khryapa, who had an under the table type of deal to return to CSKA Moscow. Participating in a charade might be CSKA Moscow’s way of returning the favor of allowing them the opportunity to get Khryapa last year.

Greek news sources are reporting that Ben Gordon has been offered a $5.5 million contract with CSKA Moscow. That contract is the equivalent to an $8.9 million contract in the NBA, as European teams deal in net. Gordon is said to be demanding at least $7 million from CSKA Moscow, which would be the same amount that Josh Childress is making. That deal would be the equivalent of an $11.3 million NBA contract, and would provide Gordon great incentive to leave the NBA for Russia.

Gordon would rejoin his former teammate, Viktor Khryapa. Also on the team is the much lauded Trajan Langdon, former New Jersey Net, Zoran Planicic, and former Jayhawk, Sasha Kaun.

CKSA Moscow is going for the sevenpeat in the Russian Super League and is trying to repeat as champions of the Euroleague. Adding Ben Gordon to their roster would bolster their chances of maintaining their dominance.

CSKA Moscow was the highest salaried team in Europe last year at $50 million. If any European team is likely to throw some money to get a good talent, CSKA Moscow is the team. They just might need Gordon if they have any hopes of competing with Olympiacos, who signed Josh Childress this summer, in the Euro Cup.

Ben Gordon, since he has a Great Britain passport, doesn’t count as one of the team’s two American players. So they are able to have Gordon on the roster even with two Americans, Trajan Langdon and Terrence Morris on the roster.

Much has been made in the past week of European contracts not being guaranteed. This really isn’t the case. The teams that Gordon has been talking to will pay him his money. The teams that don’t pay the players their money are teams in the more obscure European leagues, teams that a player like Paul Shirley would end up playing for.

The article says that Gordon will make his decision by Wednesday. This likely is just when Gordon will decide if he is going overseas or not. There is no indication that if Gordon turns down CSKA Moscow’s offer, that he will make a decision on what to do with the Bulls at the same time.

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