Richard Hamilton scored 15 points in 35 minutes of the Chicago Bulls' Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat, and he knows he likely does not have a future with the organization. The Bulls will buy out Hamilton for $1 million this offseason. Hamilton has said he hopes to play two more seasons. "Even though the last two weeks have been hard, my teammates have been great," Hamilton said. "They were so supportive of me and dumbfounded by the situation. They kept me going." Read more http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...s-bulls-heat-chicago-20130516,0,2311792.story
Hmm. I had always assumed his contract expired after 2 years. Didn't know we had to buy him out. Liked Rip. Not sure what happened those last few weeks. Thibs was fed up, I think, with the in-out stuff with his injuries, etc. Looks to me like we're going to have lots of turnover again this year.
Seriously? What a shocker! Yeah, he has a $1M buyout, which DOES count against the cap. Hey transplant, what did Rip mean by "dumbfounded by the situation?"
Excellent question...and of course I don't know. However, I'm going to speculate and say that Hamilton may be one of those people with selective hearing. I envision Hamilton lobbying his teammates with regard to big, bad Thibs not letting poor ol' Rip see the court. One of the guys says something like, "Yeah, it's too bad...we could use all the help we could get out there." Rip hears this lone comment as evidence that all his teammates are dumbfounded by Thibodeau's unfair stubbornness. After watching this team's inexorable spirit this season, I have a very difficult time believing that the key players weren't on the same page with their head coach. Personally, I'd like to thank Hamilton for the happiness he brought me...I was happy when we got him and now I'm happy that he's leaving.
Parsing what he's quoted as saying, the players were dumbfounded at the situation. My guess is the injury bug. Or the roster moves, rumored (cut Nate before his contract is guaranteed! Or trade Boozer for Bargnani) or executed (hello Nazr, goodbye Omer). Or playing so short a rotation that guys played near 48 minutes while an actual non D Leaguer (Rip) could have contributed. To Good Hope's point, I think Rip was done as a Bull at trade deadline time. When they couldn't find someone to take him for nothing, they kept him but basically decided to start playing Butler at SG. He's got a future with the team. Given the Bulls' LT situation, there was an almost zero chance he'd be renewed. I also give props to Thibs. Marco and Nate likely wont be here next season. Our chances in he playoffs were slim. Yet he played those guys and gave them every opportunity to audition for prospective new teams and bigger contracts. Rip is going to sign a vet minimum deal with someone - he didn't need to audition.
And another. http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls-talk/hamilton-i-was-just-dumbfounded-situation Thibs not exactly complimentary toward Rip. "He had a good game."
OK, both of the articles you referenced have the quote as: which makes more sense. He didn't say that his teammates were dumbfounded by the situation, but rather that he (Hamilton) was dumbfounded by the situation. It seems that Hamilton felt he was ready to play, but despite the shortage of bodies, Thibs wasn't interested until the last two games. I'd love to get Thibodeau's candid take, but I'm pretty that's gonna be one of those when hell freezes over things.
I think you're getting confused. The question isn't what things made Denny Crane dumbfounded with the Bulls' situation.
"They were so supportive of me and (they were) dumbfounded by the situation. They kept me going." (they were) in parens I added. That's from the first post/article. From the other articles I found and linked, it appears I was right: "Or playing so short a rotation that guys played near 48 minutes while an actual non D Leaguer (Rip) could have contributed"
Well that didn't take long. Never minded him when he was on the court. Key word being "when." But he always looked like Rip out there when he played, and I always admired how unique a player he was. He was also healthy for both playoffs and able to shake off rust pretty quickly. I think his benching was probably due to the fact that it was better to play one of Rip or Marco, but not both. That said, it wouldn't really make sense to keep him here one more season. 4 mill a year for a 25mpg player who'll play 30-40 games is a stretch. Does anyone know the cap/financial implications of how the Bulls did this? Did they do this in a way that costs them more cash but less of a cap hit or vice versa?
Essentially, Hamilton has a $5mil team option for next season, with $1mil guaranteed. The Bulls will not exercise their option so the team will pay Hamilton the $1mil and the team's cap will be charged $1mil. It's likely that the $1mil will be subject to the luxury tax (at minimum, an incremental $1.5mil pocketbook hit).
