Sam Smith about Hinrich

[RC_Skinny22]

This is a pretty interesting article by Sam Smith

http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bulls_blog/2010/01/hinrich-crucial-in-bulls-turnaround.html

Your thoughts?

 

[Shakes]

I found the quotes about him wanting to stay on the team interesting, given the rumors that he wanted out for somewhere he could be the starting PG last year.

 

[cool007]

I hope this doesn't mean that we won't trade him if we can include him in a Bosh/Amare/boozer type deal.

Although, this makes a kind of tougher to trade him for expiring contracts now and not to disrupt what's been working so far lately.

 

[TheStig]

I'm sorry but what a fluff piece. Kirk hasn't been playing that exceptionally, he has been playing like he should be when he signed that huge deal. I just can't write home about a starting sg that puts up 10ppg and makes over 9 mill this year. I think an average starting sg like Raja Bell would have the same impact. The reason we struggled earlier in the year is because the golden boy and salmons couldn't hit the side of the barn. I'm glad they picked up their play but this is what is expected of them. I will save my praise for guys like Rose and Noah exceeding expectations.

 

[??? ??????]

TheStig wrote:

I'm sorry but what a fluff piece. Kirk hasn't been playing that exceptionally, he has been playing like he should be when he signed that huge deal. I just can't write home about a starting sg that puts up 10ppg and makes over 9 mill this year. I think an average starting sg like Raja Bell would have the same impact. The reason we struggled earlier in the year is because the golden boy and salmons couldn't hit the side of the barn. I'm glad they picked up their play but this is what is expected of them. I will save my praise for guys like Rose and Noah exceeding expectations.

This.

Kirk has been part of our most recent success, but he was also a big part of the failure earlier in the season. The recent success has basically been made up of:

-John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich not playing like scrubs, and actually producing as they should be. I think Salmons has played better during the turn around than Kirk.
-Brad Miller stopped playing like a scrub as well, and rejoined the team as a productive member.
-Taj Gibson continues to get better as the season goes on.
-Derrick Rose killed the wussy inside of him, and became aggressive. The offense is a lot better when Rose is aggressive.

If we can trade Kirk for an expiring, I think we have to do it. I was reading somewhere that the cap could end up somewhere around $57 million again, and that it wasn't going to be one of the doom and gloom cap numbers.

If Kirk is dealt, we deal our draft pick, and Salmons opts out, we would have $22.849 million in salary commitments next offseason between Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, James Johnson, and Taj Gibson. We would have $26.16 million in committed salary when you factor in our roster fees. That would give us $30.84 million in cap space when signing the first free agent, and then $14.213.

That's an $82 million/5 year deal for the second guy ($16.4 million a year).

We might not get a Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade pairing. But we would easily be able to do something like Dwyane Wade and Carlos Boozer or Rudy *** and Chris Bosh.

If you can trade Hinrich, do it. $9 million extra in cap space is going to be a lot more valuable than Hinrich.

Just start pasting together a potential roster:

PG-Derrick Rose
SG-Rudy ***
SF-Luol Deng/James Johnson
PF-Chris Bosh/Taj Gibson
C- Joakim Noah/Brad Miller*

*I'd imagine we could sign Miller back for the minimum.

If you can't trade Hinrich, than fine. He can be a useful player. But when you're selling a max player on coming here, I think the ability to play with a Rose/Deng/Noah core along with another near-max free agent is more attractive than a Rose/Deng/Noah core and Kirk Hinrich.

 

[TheStig]

I agree with most of it but I would really try to deal Deng and kirk for expirings. I think we are missing an opportunity of a lifetime here. I think Rose/Salmons(playing decent at the 3)/Noah is enough to sneak us into the playoffs. You then have room for two max fas and a little above mle deal. If Rose and Noah continue to be awesome, Bron/Wade and Bosh/Amare will want to pair up and play with our young humble stars.

 

[Fred]

You have how admire how hard the Chicago media tries to defend the Bulls Player of the Decade. A closer examination will show some cracks in Sam's monument to the Captain:

1. Hinrich missed 6 straight games, starting on the Thanksgiving game at Utah. The Bulls went 1-5 during the strech he missed.

2. The Bulls were 0-3 in the 3 games preceding the Hinrich injury, and 1-3 in the games after he came back. Therefore, they were 1-6 WITH him during this same period of poor team play. The Bulls were 2-11 during the strech as a whole.

3. Would Hinrich have helped us during those 6 games? Absolutely...we probably would not have lost the New Jersey game at home. But to compare (Basically) a 6 game strech where Hinrich was injured...where we played terribly WITH and WITHOUT him...to compare that specific stretch to our record for the rest of the season is foolish. Yet Sam wastes a blog article highlighting this.

He should have spent more time on the real reason behind our recent explosion...Derrick Rose taking it to another level, and becoming a full-fledged superstar.

 

[Diddy1122]

Seriously, Sam needs to retired. His mid season grades were almost too stupid to insult & now this Hinrich stroke job article. It's clear the hamster is not running so fast on it's wheel up there.

There's 1 reason & 1 reason only why the Bulls are playing better lately. And that reason was just named an All-Star reserve. This is not to say that Kirk hasn't helped. Moving him back into the starting lineup I thought was a very good idea & it has vastly improved the ball movement out there. But Rose's ascension to superstar status has begun & he's putting this team on his back & delivering in big time pressure situations. That is why we are back at .500 & only 1 game out of the 5th playoff spot in the Weakstern Conference.

 

[mlewinth]

I am not in the mood to partake in a Kirk slugfest, but I wholeheartedly agree with Diddy. Hinrich's moving to the starting lineup was a good move, though I disagreed with it initially. The reason for this imporovementb though was that the change ironically coincided with Derrick Rose becoming probobly the second best Bull in history. The las month Derrick has been fantastic. Teams have noticed and Rose is getting double teamed constantly. The added pressure on Derrick has allowed the rest of the team, most notably Kirk and Salmons, to flourish. Salary is key this offseason and I say you do whatever it takes to release more cap!

 

[Shakes]

mlewinth wrote:

Derrick Rose becoming probobly the second best Bull in history.

Scottie Pippen says hi.

 

[fola]

Shakes wrote:

mlewinth wrote:

Derrick Rose becoming probobly the second best Bull in history.

Scottie Pippen says hi.

I agree its still early. But another season at this pace and I dont think it'll be to far out of the realm of...probability.

 

[MikeMeraz]

It's obvious Derrick Rose has been the crucial part in the bulls turnaround. Without question. But Kirk has been playing the second best on the team lately. He's been making shots playing good emotional defense.

But on ESPN.com there's an article about most likely to be traded and there's a picture of Kirk... Anyone have the Insider prescritption so we can know what's happining.