<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Patience could prove to be more than a virtue for Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich. Team general manager John Paxson and Jeff Austin, Hinrich's agent, have begun negotiations on a contract extension for Hinrich, who will begin his fourth NBA season when the Bulls' training camp officially gets under way Tuesday. But by virtue of the league's current collective-bargaining agreement with the players association, putting off such a deal for one more season could result in an extra guaranteed year on what is expected to be a long-term pact. ''Jeff Austin and I have both kind of agreed not to publicly make any statement,'' Paxson said Thursday. ''But the reality of the situation is that on an extension, Kirk is eligible to get five years [now]. Next year he'll be eligible to get six. If I'm Kirk's agent -- he's not one of these 21- or 22-year-old guys, he's going to be 26 this year -- I think it's probably wise of them to look toward next summer when they can get a six-year deal from us. ''It's always tough -- there's a business side to this [job] and kind of an emotional side to it. Everybody knows we love Kirk. I expect him to be in a Bulls uniform for a long time, if not his whole career. But if I'm his agent and I'm looking at five years vs. six, it's a big thing. ''That ultimately will work itself out whether it's in the next month or next summer, because No. 1, we want him here and we think he fits us perfectly. And I think Kirk wants to be here.'' Hinrich said as much Thursday after what has been the team's daily offseason Berto Center workout, which lasted approximately two hours. ''I love being a Bull, I love Chicago, and I definitely want to stay here,'' said Hinrich, who set career highs last season in scoring average (15.9) and shooting percentage from the field (41.8) and free-throw line (81.5). ''The talks have started, and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting something done [now]. I think that would be great, but right now I'm not trying to dwell on it. I'm excited for the season, ready to go, and whatever happens, happens.'' Hinrich will make $3,064,916 this season under his current contract. To put that in perspective, rookie Tyrus Thomas ($3,260,760) will make more. Should an extension not get done before next summer, the Bulls will have to tender Hinrich a $4,110,052 qualifying offer next summer to secure the right to match any offer Hinrich receives as a restricted free agent. ''We can make arguments that the market's this or the market's that or what it's going to be next summer, but Kirk will be taken care of,'' said Paxson, who has no reservations about signing Hinrich to a megamillions five- or six-year contract. ''From a purely business side of it, all [teams] would want to get the shortest deal possible,'' Paxson said. ''But that's not the reality. ''The biggest thing is whether you have confidence that the player is the type of guy who is not going to lie down at all when he gets the deal. Kirk plays hard all the time. We worry more with Kirk, with the number of minutes he plays, he's going to wear himself down. We'll obviously pay attention to that, too. The summer experience for him [playing for the USA national team in the World Championship], which was great, put a little mileage on him.''</div> Source
