A nice rundown from Mike McGraw on the state of the "market" for our FAs: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>rand's surprising decision will have a trickle-down effect on the Bulls. After the way things played out Wednesday, there is little chance of Bulls restricted free agents Ben Gordon or Luol Deng signing an offer sheet with another club. Golden State might have made an offer, but the Warriors countered Davis' departure by signing former Clippers swingman Corey Maggette to a reported $50 million over five years and inked Lakers power forward Rony Turiaf to an offer sheet worth $4 million a year that probably won't be matched. Add in the need to re-sign guard Monta Ellis and center Andris Biedrins and the Warriors' money is basically spent. That leaves the Clippers and Memphis as the only teams with any cap room left. The Grizzlies, with an eye on the bottom line, appear willing to sit tight until next year. The Clippers don't figure to pursue Deng or Gordon, because they already have Al Thornton and rookie Eric Gordon at those positions. Most observers expect the Clippers to consider large offer sheets for either Atlanta's Josh Smith or Charlotte's Emeka Okafor. This means negotiations for Deng and Gordon will likely drag on for several more weeks. Neither player has received a formal offer from the Bulls. The key number for the Bulls this summer is $71.15 million, which is the new luxury-tax threshold, announced Wednesday. Any team whose payroll exceeds this amount is charged a dollar-for-dollar tax on the excess and also does not receive any of the money distributed to the nontax teams. General manager John Paxson has said the Bulls would prefer to avoid the luxury tax, but would be willing to pay if it meant acquiring a great player. The Bulls' payroll for 2008-09, without Deng or Gordon, currently stands at $53.89 million for 11 players, including rookie Derrick Rose. So to avoid the luxury tax this season, the Bulls would have to limit the first-year salaries for Gordon and Deng to $8.63 million each. With the allowable 10.5 percent raises each year, that would work out to $65.38 million over six seasons for an average of $10.9 million per year. Some might say that's a fair price for the two restricted free agents. But the players still have leverage. They could sign one-year qualifying offers and become unrestricted free agents next summer, then conceivably leave for a new team while the Bulls get no compensation. Such strategy would be a risk for Deng and Gordon, but there should be ample cap room available next summer. Memphis and Seattle are on pace to have around $20 million in cap room. Miami could be near $20 million if it doesn't re-sign Shawn Marion. The Clippers will have around $15 million to spend if they don't sign anyone this summer. Detroit could even have close to $15 million if it doesn't re-sign Rasheed Wallace, while a couple other teams, such as New Jersey and Portland, could open up $10 million or more depending on what personnel moves they make between now and next July 1.</div> Also worth considering is the money various similar players are getting: Corey Maggette 5/$50M Antawn Jamison 4/$50M They seem fairly obvious comparisons to Deng in my opinion.
General manager John Paxson has said the Bulls would prefer to avoid the luxury tax, but would be willing to pay if it meant acquiring a great player. WHOA
So, Deng should get between Jamison's and Maggette's contract, going by skill. Though, Deng has the advantage of youth and potential growth.
