Pistons invite Gordon to visit

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.

Anyway, it seems like this will come to a conclusion quickly. The Bulls need to decide right away how badly they want to keep their leading scorer for the past four years.

Re-signing Gordon would send the Bulls over the luxury tax threshold, although they’d have until the end of next season to try and trim the payroll.