The Celts made a run at Hinrich?

[PosImpos]

chicago is not memphis...  the people in memphis are just happy to have a little basketball with their country music.  chicago is MICHAEL JORDAN - it's a little different.  i don't see the rest of league jumping up and down to help out the celtics, especially the bulls organization.

I'll believe this supposed fire-sale in chicago when i see it...

On the other hand, Chicago knows that if they get rid of Hinrich AND Salmons, they will have enough cap space this summer to sign, say, Wade paired with Chris Bosh... then they would have Rose/Wade/Deng/Bosh/Noah... pretty sick team if you ask me.

But it's true that the Bulls fans are not people you mess around with so it will be tough for the Bulls organization to say "screw the present, we will trade good players for nothing to sign good players this summer" to their fans.

On the other hand, I think fans would be OK with that scenario. The Bulls can still make the playoffs without Hinrich and Salmons (a lot tougher but still feasible) and they are in for a first round exit anyway so why not do a firesale, considering the big names they can sign this summer?

They have a serious shot at redemption after their terrible management of the past few years (the Ben Wallace signing stands out) and they would be dumb not to go for it. Let's hope the Celtics benefit from this possible firesale!

Man, with Rose / Wade / Deng / Bosh / Noah they could win another 3-6 championships....

I guess if acquiring Hinrich and / or Salmons means we win this year, though (seeing as this is our last real year of contention) I'd be okay with it.

I'd rather the Bulls become totally amazing and dominate the league for a few years than the Cavs with LeBron or the Lakers with Kobe.


Do we really wanna pay for another 2 years of Kirk Hinrich, though?

[Roy Hobbs]

chicago is not memphis...  the people in memphis are just happy to have a little basketball with their country music.  chicago is MICHAEL JORDAN - it's a little different.  i don't see the rest of league jumping up and down to help out the celtics, especially the bulls organization.

I'll believe this supposed fire-sale in chicago when i see it...

Eh, the Bulls have gone the fire sale route before, so it's not like it's beneath them.  Right now, they don't have enough cap room to sign a max guy next summer.  If they move Salmons or Hinrich, they will have.

If you're Chicago, would you rather make a slight playoff push this year, or sign a major name next summer?

[Roy Hobbs]

Do we really wanna pay for another 2 years of Kirk Hinrich, though?

I say, why not?  We're already well above the cap, so it wouldn't hurt our flexibility.  We can't re-load our team using only the MLE and minimum contracts every year; at some point, you need to bring in a quality player on an existing contract, even if he's slightly overpaid.

Hinrich can shoot, distribute, and defend.  In other words, he's the perfect player for our team.

[Fan from VT]

chicago is not memphis...  the people in memphis are just happy to have a little basketball with their country music.  chicago is MICHAEL JORDAN - it's a little different.  i don't see the rest of league jumping up and down to help out the celtics, especially the bulls organization.

I'll believe this supposed fire-sale in chicago when i see it...

Eh, the Bulls have gone the fire sale route before, so it's not like it's beneath them.  Right now, they don't have enough cap room to sign a max guy next summer.  If they move Salmons or Hinrich, they will have.

If you're Chicago, would you rather make a slight playoff push this year, or sign a major name next summer?

Just to quibble, I think they have plenty of room to sign a max guy this summer. I think their major thing is if they deal one of their longer term contracts, they could have capspace to sign TWO max players. I'll check right now.

[Fan from VT]

chicago is not memphis...  the people in memphis are just happy to have a little basketball with their country music.  chicago is MICHAEL JORDAN - it's a little different.  i don't see the rest of league jumping up and down to help out the celtics, especially the bulls organization.

I'll believe this supposed fire-sale in chicago when i see it...

Eh, the Bulls have gone the fire sale route before, so it's not like it's beneath them.  Right now, they don't have enough cap room to sign a max guy next summer.  If they move Salmons or Hinrich, they will have.

If you're Chicago, would you rather make a slight playoff push this year, or sign a major name next summer?

Just to quibble, I think they have plenty of room to sign a max guy this summer. I think their major thing is if they deal one of their longer term contracts, they could have capspace to sign TWO max players. I'll check right now.

Okay, yeah. They're at 37,658,976 if Salmons keeps his contract (it's suspected he will, not much market for him) and they give Ty Thomas his QO. If the let Thomas go, they're down to 31,850,976. If cap's around 55 mil, that's about 23 million. Not enough for 2 maxes. However, if they can get rid of Hinrich's 9,000,000 and let Thomas walk, they'd have about 32 million in space; close enough to max probably for two guys who want to play together to feel like it's enough money and a good enough situation.

You could easily see a lineup of

Rose
Wade
Deng
Bosh
Noah

or

Rose
Wade
Denge
Lebron
Noah

or

Rose
Deng
Lebron
Bosh
Nosh

or

Rose
Deng
Lebron
Amare
Noah

or

Rose
Wade
Deng
Amare
Noah


All scary options. All of which are why I would be shocked if Chicago was furiously shopping a Thomas/Hinrich package for expirings at the deadline.

[Andy Jick]

think about the risk, though...  say they do this and get NONE of those desired players?  welcome to basketball purgatory...

[Fan from VT]

think about the risk, though...  say they do this and get NONE of those desired players?  welcome to basketball purgatory...

That's the other thing. What is the real downside?

it's not like their close right now; Hinrich and Thomas are certainly nice guys to have if you're close, but thy're not going to carry your franchise. Losing them isn't exactly like letting Bosh walk because you think you can sign Lebron or something.

[Andy Jick]

maybe i'm in the minority, but i'm not at all enamored with chris bosh...  i believe whoever signs him (and it will cost a lot of money with quite a few years) will live to regret it.

[PosImpos]

Do we really wanna pay for another 2 years of Kirk Hinrich, though?

I say, why not?  We're already well above the cap, so it wouldn't hurt our flexibility.  We can't re-load our team using only the MLE and minimum contracts every year; at some point, you need to bring in a quality player on an existing contract, even if he's slightly overpaid.

Hinrich can shoot, distribute, and defend.  In other words, he's the perfect player for our team.

Yeah, I'd love to have him.  I just feel like 9.5 mill for one year is bad enough...close to 8-9 million for 2 more years after that seems like a heck of a lot of money.  Ownership would have to feel like he'd be the missing piece to a championship puzzle to make it worth it.

[wdleehi]

The more I think about, the more I think the Celtics should do it to help their title chances this year.



1)  He improves the second team offense immediately.  Players like House, Wallace and Davis that have had struggles now have a player to set them up. 

2)  His defense.  Fast SGs have become an issue.  He can defend them well. 

3)  He doesn't go to the Lakers. 

4) By opening up another team, there is a greater chance of a reshuffling of teams next season.  The younger players learning another team could push open the Celtics window another season.

[moiso]

Not crazy about the salary, but he would solve quite a few problems.  He would definitely help in the heart/hustle/toughness department.  This guy plays with an intensity matched only by KG on our team.  He's a psycho in a good way.  He'd be a big energy spark.

[winsomme]

In an article about the CBA, Ian Thomsen reports the following:

While some teams will stay away from making long-term player investments in these uncertain times, other owners will try to exploit it. "There are still two titles to be won [before 2011-12], and certain teams will throw caution to the wind to win them," a team executive said. "If you're the Celtics, are you going to worry about your future? What you're probably going to focus on is the here and now."

That's why the Celtics made a run last month at acquiring Kirk Hinrich, who has three years (including this season) and $26.5 million left on his contract, an outlandish amount for someone who would be Boston's third guard. But he would have resolved all of Boston's backcourt issues while extending its defense, and so the Celtics considered offering spare parts for Hinrich before the Bulls decided they needed a high-quality player or draft pick in the exchange.

Link

What, Scal isn't a high-quality player?  I'm not sure what "considered offering" means, but if Wyc is going to spend the money to maximize this team's chances at a title this year, that's only a good thing.

There are lots of other interesting things in that article, too, including the strong possibility of a hard cap with the new CBA.

This is great news IMO.

It means Danny knows we need an upgrade to the bench and it also means the owners are willing to spend over the short term to win another Title with the core we have...

Also, if the Bulls want to have cap space to go after two FAs, they are going to have to move Hinrich or Salmons. So, I don't think they will be in the driver's seat as the deadline approaches and will step back from those demands...

For the Cs, I don't have a problem giving up our 2011 pick. I think it will still be a low first rounder. And I would take either Hinrich or Salmons. Hinrich might be the better fit of the two....

[wdleehi]

Still like this trade idea



Boston trades Ray and 1st

    Receives Butler and Hinrich


Chi trades Hinrich, Salmons and James
 
     Receives Ray, Stevenson and 1st

DC trades Butler and Stevenson
     
     Salmons and James.

[wdleehi]

Still like this trade idea



Boston trades Ray and 1st

    Receives Butler and Hinrich


Chi trades Hinrich, Salmons and James
 
     Receives Ray, Stevenson and 1st

DC trades Butler and Stevenson
     
     Salmons and James.

On 2nd thought, give the 1st to DC.  Chicago creates both cap space next year and gives themselves a good shot at being in the playoffs this season.

[moiso]

Still like this trade idea



Boston trades Ray and 1st

    Receives Butler and Hinrich


Chi trades Hinrich, Salmons and James
 
     Receives Ray, Stevenson and 1st

DC trades Butler and Stevenson
     
     Salmons and James.

Boston gets two good players, Chicago gets one(expiring), and Washington gets none.  Is Salmons expiring?