Hinrich joining Pritchard in Portland?
So much for speculation.
Wednesday in this very blog, we discussed that the departure of Ben Gordon from Chicago (to Detroit via free agency) likely meant that the Bulls were happy with Kirk Hinrich and that the former Jayhawk would join rookie phenom Derrick Rose in the team’s backcourt for quite a while.
My how quickly things can change — or at least can be rumored to change.
Thursday, the hot news around the NBA was that the Bulls were discussing a three-team deal that would ship Hinrich to Portland, Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas to Utah and Utah big man Carlos Boozer to the Windy City.
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In financial terms, that’s a blockbuster deal, even if all three names don’t jump off of the screen at you.
Hinrich has proven to be an incredibly solid guard and still has some mileage left on his tires. Thomas is a freak athlete with great potential who is still very much in the early stages of his career. Boozer…. he’s the most proven of the three. Landing him would give Chicago a serious low-post scoring presence as well as one of the hardest-working bigs in the league.
It’s a deal that makes sense for many reasons for all three teams. It also brings about a handful of questions.
The most obvious is why would the Bulls allow two of their three top guards to get out of two so easily? Up-and-comer John Salmons does play a guard spot, but not in the same traditional way as Gordon and Hinrich.
The answer to the question is simple…. they’re thinking bigger. As any NBA fan knows by now, the free agent class of 2010 (next summer) is full of franchise names. LeBron James is by far the biggest fish in that ocean and many teams are expected to make their pitch to King James next summer.
But right behind him on the list — somewhere ahead of Paul Pierce — is Chicago native and all-world superstar Dwyane Wade.
Could the Bulls be moving Hinrich, Thomas and their hefty contracts to free up cap space to make a run at D-Wade??? From where I sit, that would not be a terrible move.
In the meantime, the Bulls are in conversations with free agent Jannero Pargo, a former Chicago guard who played three season with the team from 2003-2006.
Coincidence? Who knows.
At this point, it’s still just a rumor and might never actually happen. But there are reasons to believe that a deal like this could benefit all parties involved, including Hinrich.
Here are a few links that examine this situation more closely.