With the Olympics over, free agency mostly exhausted, restricted free agency resolved, and no one getting arrested or nothing, there remains but one story in the NBA landscape. And boy it is a doozy: Ben Gordon, still standing, still thriving, still refusing to sign.

But what Gordon -- and the Bulls, who would at this point love to unload their smooth-shooting, height-deficient guard in a sign-and-trade -- don't realize is that they're doomed to be together. From The Daily Herald:

League sources continue to suggest there is little to no action on the Gordon trade market ... Even if there is a team willing to meet Gordon's asking price, that team must also be ready to take someone like Larry Hughes or Andres Nocioni in the deal and send some useful players back to the Bulls. Shouldn't be a problem, right?

Well, there is a way out of this mess. Both sides just need to understand how much they need each other. The Bulls need a quality 3-point shooter and Gordon doesn't figure to get any better options than re-signing with the team that drafted him No. 3 in 2004.

The Herald points out that "a dynamic point guard such as Derrick Rose [gets] open shots for his teammates ... So naturally, a strong outside shooter such as Gordon is a necessity." A bit of a stretch, there, especially when it could be used as leverage by Gordon's camp. But it does put a rational spin on a deal that, however unhappy one or both sides are with it, now seems all but inevitable. Gordon could sign for the one-year qualifying offer and enter unrestricted free agency. He could swallow his pride and take the Bulls offer, or at very least compromise -- they're only $2 million a year apart, right?

But what this really proves is what most of us knew all along: There's just not that much demand for Gordon, and there was never going to be a savior dropping in. He's useful, if not essential, and Chicago could use him as part of their future. This stalemate has to end right now -- the only reason it's gone on so long is that Gordon's waiting for a sign that's never going to come.

 

 

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