The Golden State Warriors appear to be enamored with Kirk Hinrich of the Chicago Bulls.
Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports has the details:
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Golden State Warriors are among teams that had been showing serious interest in Hinrich long before the Deng trade. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because trade talks are typically private.
The former Kansas Jayhawk is a steady floor general that runs the team and defends with great fervor. The Bulls have obviously missed Derrick Rose during the time he has been injured, but Hinrich has helped Chicago look respectable.
The former Atlanta Hawk is a career 37.6 percent long-range shooter and also a very good ball-handler. As a starting point guard, Hinrich is probably a decent choice. Mind you, as a backup floor general, he is perhaps one of the best options in the league.
The Warriors’ second unit can certainly benefit from his presence given that they have not yet found the best ways to utilize Toney Douglas. In order to acquire Hinrich though, it’s important to understand what the Bulls are looking for in a potential deal.
Chicago Bulls’ Needs
Chicago came into the season with title aspirations but those quickly dissipated when Rose was lost for the season. The Bulls are currently over the luxury tax apron and will face harsh penalties if they are a repeater tax team. Given the restrictive nature of the CBA on tax teams, the Bulls need to get below the tax line and are getting closer.
They traded Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a swap for Andrew Bynum. They have since waived Bynum because only $6 million of his $24 million was guaranteed provided that he was no longer on a team roster by January 10.
The Bulls’ willingness to absorb Bynum’s contract and then release him indicates the team was more interested in cutting costs than competing for a low-postseason seed.
Hence, if the Bulls are going to trade Hinrich over to the Warriors, they will only do so provided they do not take on any long-term salaries. Also, they might ask for draft picks on top it.
Warriors’ Moving Parts
In order for the Golden State Warriors to acquire Kirk Hinrich, a salary swap will be in order given that none of the teams involved have cap space. The most likely deal involves the Dubs trading away Jermaine O’Neal and Toney Douglas for the Bulls’ guard.
Both Golden State players have expiring contracts and the transaction actually reduces Chicago’s payroll. The decrease is not a significant one, but it’s still less money the team has to give out.
The Warriors have a shot at landing Hinrich, but it’s possible that other teams will be willing to offer more in the form of draft picks or younger players, which is precisely what Chicago is looking for.
The jury is still out though.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].
While the Bulls may want to cut salary, the Dubs don’t want to trigger the luxury tax either. To remain under the tax the Warriors can only take on up to 3.5 m. So trading for Hinrich seems like a better fit. I would think Hinrich for the tax exception and Douglass for a minimum contract guy off the Bulls bench. We may have to throw in a second round pick. This deal saves the Bulls money and keeps the Warriors below the luxury tax. More importantly it keeps the repeater tax away for another year and allows us to use the full mid level exception next year to get a more long term solution. It doesn’t hurt that we would still be eligible for a share of this years tax revenue which you forfeit if you pay the tax.
The Dubs definitely need to start finding a way to get more productivity from their bench but I don’t think the Hinrich trade is the one to provide the answer. Andre Miller wants out of Denver, so how about we offer up Douglas, O’Neal and Speights and get them to throw Faried in also. The gives us better depth at the point and power forward position. Denver might bite to offload Miller and get some more size on their roster in O’Neal and Speights.
The next part of this trade involves Brooklyn and trying to acquire Andray Blatche, he’d be a great back up to Bogey as he can provide some points from the centre position to help the scoreboard ticking over while the starters rest, Bogey isn’t there for his offense but can if needed too so they would compliment each other well. I think I’m been very optimistic but I hope a healthy Festus Elezi could get this done.
That would leave our starting 5 unchanged but have a bench of Miller, Bazemore, Barnes, Faried & Blatche, with Draymond Green also.
That team could take us deeper than the current one and the Dubs are in great position already, thoughts?