Portland and Minn. Didn't want Kirk?

[Fred]

"As I suggested in my Monday column this past week I was in favor of keeping Ben over Kirk. But you’d have to deal Kirk into someone’s cap space, and that was proving unlikely with Portland and Minnesota no longer that interested." Sam Smith, 7.3.2009, Bulls.com.

If Sam's assertion is to be believed, maybe Gar didn't have a choice. He had to keep the team out of luxury tax territory, per the chairman. Minn and their new management obviously didn't want Hinrich, since they drafted 2 point guards, but I was always under the impression that Portland wanted him. According to Sam, they really didn't. Maybe he had nowhere to trade Kirk. Therefore, signing Gordon became impossible, with the Chairman's edict.

 

[Shakes]

Portland thought they were getting Hedo up until a couple of days ago, which would explain why they weren't interested in absorbing Hinrich's salary.

 

[Dpauley23]

No I talked to KC and he told me the Bulls could of easily traded Kirk, but leading up to draft decided they wanted Hinrich over Gordon

 

[RPK]

Dpauley23 wrote:

No I talked to KC and he told me the Bulls could of easily traded Kirk, but leading up to draft decided they wanted Hinrich over Gordon

I'd take Sam's word over KC any day of the week.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Shakes wrote:

Portland thought they were getting Hedo up until a couple of days ago, which would explain why they weren't interested in absorbing Hinrich's salary.

Yeah, that would make a lot of sense. However, now that Gordon's gone, if Hinrich goes too and we don't get something decent in return, it'll be a huge step backwards. Like it or not, Hinrich is still our best perimeter defender.

 

[Dpauley23]

RPK wrote:

Dpauley23 wrote:

No I talked to KC and he told me the Bulls could of easily traded Kirk, but leading up to draft decided they wanted Hinrich over Gordon

I'd take Sam's word over KC any day of the week.

Not on this one. KC was over BG to Pistons and him signing right away. Sam was giving me this crap about they wouldn't be able to sign max free agent when they could of easily dealed Hinrich

 

[houheffna]

I think they kept Hinrich because of defense and their commitment to it, and I think they felt that there was a good chance that they would lose Gordon even if they pursued him. They didnt want to pay him over what they previously offered him. So they stuck with Kirk. It was the safer move. And yes, he is the best perimeter defender.

 

[Jamfan]

The Bulls should have traded Kirk to Minnesota last year at the deadline. I guess a deal was in place and the Bulls didn't pull the trigger. That cost us BG.

 

[dougthonus]

DerrickRose1 wrote:

The Bulls should have traded Kirk to Minnesota last year at the deadline. I guess a deal was in place and the Bulls didn't pull the trigger. That cost us BG.

It's dicey whether the Bulls would have gotten BG anyway. We'll need to wait to see what his contract numbers come out to. I've heard from 5/50 to 5/58.6 right now. At 5/58.6, I don't think the bulls would have beaten the offer.

I'm also not sure how willing Ben was to come back here, the fact that he didn't give the Bulls a chance to match the Pistons offer means that the Bulls clearly weren't his favorite spot. At best he was treating us as a neutral site.

 

[B1LLIONAIREKR3W]

hopefully the bulls play well this year so kirk and tyrus can have a better value and then we can trade them as soon as possible.

 

[wjb1492]

B1LLIONAIREKR3W wrote:

hopefully the bulls play well this year so kirk and tyrus can have a better value and then we can trade them as soon as possible.

If Tyrus and/or Kirk play well this year, why would we still be intent on trading them "as soon as possible"?

I'm all for including pretty much anyone in a trade to bring back long-term pieces that improve the team immediately, or even long-term pieces that are almost certain to improve the team in the short future. Trading for more room under the tax made sense before Ben left with the theory of having room to resign him, but he's gone now so that's not an urgent need.

But I'm not on-board with dumping anyone on the team just to get rid of them, particularly not in your scenario where it's after a season of good play. It's like people have repeated "Kirk's not an SG" so many times that people are ready to trade him for a lousy "real" SG instead of recognizing that he's still a better player and makes the team better than a lousy replacement, even if that guy is cheaper. And if Tyrus starts playing well enough to raise his trade value, why would we get rid of him just to be done with him?

 

[pinkizdead]

wjb1492 wrote:

B1LLIONAIREKR3W wrote:

hopefully the bulls play well this year so kirk and tyrus can have a better value and then we can trade them as soon as possible.

If Tyrus and/or Kirk play well this year, why would we still be intent on trading them "as soon as possible"?

I'm all for including pretty much anyone in a trade to bring back long-term pieces that improve the team immediately, or even long-term pieces that are almost certain to improve the team in the short future. Trading for more room under the tax made sense before Ben left with the theory of having room to resign him, but he's gone now so that's not an urgent need.

But I'm not on-board with dumping anyone on the team just to get rid of them, particularly not in your scenario where it's after a season of good play. It's like people have repeated "Kirk's not an SG" so many times that people are ready to trade him for a lousy "real" SG instead of recognizing that he's still a better player and makes the team better than a lousy replacement, even if that guy is cheaper. And if Tyrus starts playing well enough to raise his trade value, why would we get rid of him just to be done with him?

if you have dwayne wade on your team, rudy fernandez and oj mayo aren't good compliments to that team. i'm on the trade kirk bandwagon. he's 9 million dollars a year. if we get a good piece in return, i'm all for trading kirk. i'm no longer a fan of trading kirk for expiring contracts, but i am a fan of trading kirk for the most intriguing pieces available.