Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls chairman, revealed today that Gordon had missed out on the opportunity to sign a new contract last summer and will now have to wait until after July 1 to find out whether he will be made an offer to stay with the NBA club.

 

The 26-year-old, who was born in London to Jamaican parents and moved to the United States shortly after this birth, rejected a five-year $50 million (£31 million) deal last year only to change his mind and then for the Bulls to withdraw the offer.

 

In the end, Gordon signed a one-year $6.4 million (£4 million) deal and is a free agent this summer.

 

Reinsdorf said: "He was prepared to sign last year at the end, but after he turned down our offer, we thought about it and thought about it and decided it was in our best interest just to go one year with Ben.

 

"We informed him of that, at which time his agent came back and said, 'We'll take your prior offer.'

 

"We said it was too late.

 

"It's off the table.
 

"We'll have decisions to make at the draft.

 

"It depends on who we take, whether we trade our picks or we trade other players.

 

"Where we're going with Ben can't be decided until after July 1."

Re-signing Gordon will be the top priority of new Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman heading into the off-season he said last week after his outstanding performances in the Play-offs, in which they were beaten by the Boston Celtics.

 

Britain's coach Chris FInch will be hoping that a compromise can be reached quickly so that Gordon is available to make his debut for Britain at the European Championships in Poland in September alongside Bulls clubmate Luol Deng.

 

Gordon said: "At the end of the day, it's a business.

 

"I'm able to put my feelings aside and if there's animosity, the organisation needs to be able to do the same thing.

 

"We're not kids in the playground arguing over a basketball.

 

"This is a business, and we need to sit down and figure something out. If there's nothing to figure out, move on and do something else."