The Bobcats' desire to trade Ben Gordon has increased following an incident between Gordon and coach Mike Dunlap, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski reports that Gordon was "beyond disrepectful" to Dunlap during Monday's shootaround, resulting in general manager Rod Higgins intervening.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that Gordon refused Dunlap's request to stop bouncing a ball while the coach spoke, and that the veteran guard began baiting Dunlap, telling him he needed to "humble himself." Gordon refused to give the ball to Dunlap and eventually tossed it toward a ball rack, according to the Yahoo! report.
The front office decided not to suspend Gordon following the incident, in part because the team felt it might diminish his trade value, says Wojnarowski. With a 2012/13 salary of $12.4MM and a $13.2MM player option for next season, Gordon doesn't have a ton of value anyway. Charlotte reportedly discussed sending him to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, but Wojnarowski reports the Nets have put that trade on the back burner, believing it could be revisited closer to the deadline if they don't find another deal they like.
the nets need to just pull the trigger on the Gordon deal. they are not going to be able to get milsap or josh smith without involving one or more draft picks. Gordon will have so much more of an impact on the second unit than anything Humphries can bring. it also allows p.j. to sit joe Johnson when the second unit is in so that he has more time on the floor with deron williams to try and create shots for him.