Deep Regret: Bulls Shouldn't Have Let Gordon Go So Easy

(Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

How ironic that on the day Kobe Bryant—a player the Bulls once eagerly pursued—essentially committed his future with the Lakers, the player that was already filling that role as lead scorer got whisked away without so much as a struggle.

As of now, Ben Gordon is a Detroit Piston.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls may have just moon-walked their way out of the playoffs (it's OK to laugh).

One would not have to stretch their mind far, however, to defend the Bulls' actions. They did offer Gordan a significant amount (especially when taking into account the fragile state of the economy). Gordon is undersized at his position and is a bit of a defensive liability.

He isn't an All-Star.

The team that signed him got him for only $5 million more than what the Bulls offered. And finally, the Bulls have never managed to get passed the first round with him as their leading scorer.

So there is, indeed, an advocate to argue this devil's case.

But here is the other side of the argument.

Ben Gordon was undoubtedly Chicago's most efficient scorer. He was arguably the biggest reason the Bulls took the then-defending champion Boston Celtics to a Game Seven in the playoffs this year. But most importantly, he came through in the clutch—not just at several points in the playoffs—but also throughout the season.

And maybe that isn't enough to defend committing a lot of money to a player that hasn't been able to lead a team out of the first round.

But tell that to Kevin Garnett, circa 2000, when he experienced countless seasons of first-round exits with the T-wolves.

Tell that to T-mac, before his back made him a semi-functioning quadriplegic.

And what will those guys say in return, in the most humble of ways?

I'm not part of the problem. I'm part of the solution.

Say what you will about Gordan's contract situation, but the Bulls knew well enough of Gordon's talent's that they were only $5 million short of what came to be the final amount.

And if the saying which has echoed itself for several years in the NBA that superstars are made in the playoffs holds true, then the Bulls better have something to show for their semi-willingness to let him go sometime in the near future.

Because today's problem for the Bulls just became a part of tomorrow's solution for the Detroit Pistons.

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