All Bull - Chicago Bulls

If anyone was alarmed by the Internet rumor posted Friday that the Bulls and Pistons are talking about turning the Ben Gordon free-agent signing into a sign-and-trade that would send Allen Iverson to the Bulls, don’t worry.

There is no chance of that happening. In fact, a team source confirmed that the Pistons have not even asked about doing a sign-and-trade for Gordon.

One reason teams might talk about such a thing is Gordon could get a sixth year on his contract if he re-signs with the Bulls and is traded to Detroit. Most people believe the approximately five-year, $55 million deal for Gordon is already above market value, so a sixth year hardly seems necessary.

When I spoke to Ben Gordon late Wednesday, after he agreed to a free-agent deal with Detroit, one comment he made was that he felt Bulls fans had been “cheated.”

He didn’t elaborate, but I think he was referring to how the Bulls have given away some quality players in recent years to keep the payroll modest. Tyson Chandler, J.R. Smith and Thabo Sefolosha left for little in return, while some players criticized the decision to send Tim Thomas home during the 2005-06 season. Of course, Bulls’ home attendance has been very strong throughout the decade.

Yahoo.com reported that Ben Gordon has agreed to a five-year, $55-million deal with the Detroit Pistons. The Detroit News, usually a reliable source of Pistons news, called it a five-year deal worth more than $50 million.

The Bulls' leading scorer for the past four seasons spent Wednesday in Auburn Hills, Mich., on a free-agent recruiting visit. He can't officially sign a new contract until July 8.

Realistically, Gordon staying with the Bulls was a long shot. For the past two years, Gordon turned down offers from the Bulls that were similar to what he’ll likely get from the Pistons. Those deals he turned down were believed to be five years, $50 million in 2008 and six years, $54 million last summer.

According to multiple reports, the Detroit Pistons were planning to fly Bulls free agent Ben Gordon into town today for a visit to the team’s practice facility. Also said to be along for the recruiting trip is Gordon’s former Connecticut teammate, Charlie Villanueva, the power forward who was granted unrestricted free agency by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Pistons have roughly $19 million to spend on free agents and if they make Gordon an offer at the rumored price of $11 million per season, it’s all over. The Bulls are very unlikely to compete at that price.

If Detroit tries to squeeze three free agents into that cap room and comes in at $8 million or less for Gordon, the Bulls might try to beat the offer.

The Bulls chose a fighter with the 16th pick of Thursday’s NBA Draft, selecting 6-foot-8 Wake Forest forward James Johnson.

Here’s Johnson in a nutshell, based on a couple of quotes that ran this season in Sports Illustrated.

“I know nobody can beat me up, so there’s never reason to be scared,” he said. “I’m not done fighting. I think about fighting all the time.”

Johnson grew up in Cheyenne, Wyo., the middle child in a family of nine kids. Eight of the nine kids are black belts. Only 10-year-old sister Kiandra is a blue belt.

Johnson’s father Willie is an ex-marine and seven-time world kickboxing champion who runs J&P’s Martial Arts school in Cheyenne.

In a late-developing story on Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly acquired aging center Shaquille O’Neal from Phoenix.

O’Neal, 37, won’t necessarily carry LeBron James to his first NBA title. But it’s a low-risk move for the Cavs because they’re giving back little in return and O’Neal has just one year left on his contract.

According to reports, Cleveland will send Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and a second-round draft pick to the Suns. Wallace, 34, threatened to retire after averaging 12.6 minutes per game during the playoffs. In fact, between Big Ben and Pavlovic, the Cavs are giving up two players who averaged just 3.2 points and 4.1 rebounds during the playoffs.

Louisville’s Earl Clark cancelled a scheduled workout with the Bulls on Sunday.

The Bulls proceeded without him, leaving Gonzaga’s Austin Daye and Micah Downs, UCLA’s Josh Shipp, Memphis’ Antonio Anderson, West Virginia’s Alex Ruoff and Clemson’s K.C. Rivers to perform at a steamy Berto Center.

A power outage cut Saturday’s predraft workout short and the air conditioning still needed to be re-programmed, creating a warm and muggy atmosphere inside the gym.

The 6-foot-10 Clark cited an injury as the reason for his cancellation, though it’s always possible he decided to skip Chicago because he doesn’t think he’ll be on the board when the Bulls pick at No. 16.

With more room to work with on the blog this year, it's a good time to institute the Daily Herald's first NBA expanded mock draft. The real one is approaching quickly on June 25.

These picks are based somewhat on predicting what could happen, but also include my personal recommendations. Keep in mind that while plenty of highlights are available on YouTube of these guys, there aren't as many lowlights out there.

1. Los Angeles Clippers - Blake Griffin, 6-10, F, Oklahoma.
This is a no-doubter. With his explosiveness and shooting touch, Griffin could end up bringing an offensive game similar to Amare Stoudemire.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet, 7-2, C, Connecticut.

Bulls predraft workouts continued Tuesday with six players. The most notable was Wake Forest point guard Jeff Teague, who has a good chance of going higher than No. 16 in the first round.

Others at the Berto Center’s all-guard workout were VCU’s Eric Maynor, Florida’s Nick Calathes, 5-8 David Holston from Chicago State, Southern Illinois’ Bryan Mullins and Iowa State’s Tasheed Carr.

It's interesting that so many guards from ACC country are vying for spots in the first round, such as Teague, Maynor (not the ACC, but the same region), North Carolina’s Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, along with Duke’s Gerald Henderson. Florida State’s Toney Douglas could probably join that group.

An intense year of NBA playoffs ended without much drama on Sunday as the Los Angeles Lakers closed out Orlando on the road in Game 5.

Go ahead and congratulate Kobe Bryant for being the catalyst in L.A.’s 10th NBA title. He averaged 32.4 points in the Finals -- to go with 7.4 assists, believe it or not -- and 30.2 points in the playoffs overall.

But it’s a mistake to say this championship is Kobe’s redemption; proof that he really can win a title without Shaquille O’Neal.