http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bulls_blog/2009/02/lets-all-sing-its-not-amare.html Not a bad trade at all. Even if Boozer opts out and leaves, we get rid of Kirk's contract.
Does Sam Smith have any credability? It seems like every thing he talks about is made up or never happens.
When the dust clears out, and if nothing happens, you will know how Laker fans felt every year before the Gasol trade.
Boozer? : If only Boozer was playing I wouldn't mind the "chatter" of a trade so much. I'd rather keep Kirk than have some injured player sitting around doing jack shit beside talking about opting out and how much money he can get.
Kirk does nothing for us and needs to be moved for a shorter contract. This accomplishes that even if Boozer walks. I see little to no downside to this, and I'm not a huge Boozer fan at all. In fact, I wouldn't extend him before seeing how he played next year unless he gave us a real sweetheart of a deal. Still, not sure I can see the Jazz doing this. Even after this trade, they'd likely go over the luxury tax re-signing Millsap. They need to either take less salary back or trade more (AK-47).
Nothing! Seriously. We're paying $10M for our backup PG. His defense really hasn't been much, if any of an asset. Here's what Kirk is measurably giving us since his return Code: FG% 3P% FT% MP PTS TRB AST TO 42% 32% 73% 26.8 9.1 2.7 4.8 2.7 In the grand scheme of things, that's pretty mediocre. It's OK for a backup PG, but just OK. It's definitely not OK to be paying $10M for that level of production.
His defense has been a huge asset given the porousity of the starting backcourt, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. And he's capably backed up both PG and SG. His on court/off court numbers are way better than anybody but Noc's showing that he has a very positive influence on things. And your wrong about the defense, if I hadn't already mentioned that... Just to reiterate: Wrong.
I think Kirk Hinrich has value. But not so much on this team because Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon are so good already, and are better complements. Kirk is a nice third guard, but he has a lot of money tied up in him. If we could do Kirk for Boozer followed by Gooden and Noah for Tyson Chandler, the trade deadline would have to be looked at as a success. PG-Derrick Rose/Lindsey Hunter SG-Ben Gordon/Thabo Sefolosha SF-Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni PF-Carlos Boozer/Tyrus Thomas C- Tyson Chandler/Aaron Gray Pretty much you split the big minutes three ways between Boozer, Thomas, and Chandler. Gray/Nocioni step in when there's foul trouble or an injury. That should be a pretty good team imo. You got inside scoring with Boozer, you've vastly upgraded the interior defense with Chandler, and you have terrific guard play.
Let me add that Hinrich for Boozer makes a lot of sense, I was just objecting to mischaracterization of his defensive contribution... If Boozer wasn't hurt, I'd say do it, but unless he has a deal already worked out, he's not going to opt out and blow the cash he has when he can have a good year next year and reap the benefits. He's not an A list free agent anymore with all his injuries. He's more like a Ben Wallace who could break down at any moment. If AK's contract wasn't so big, I'd say trade Kirk for him, too.
No. His defense has been frequently mediocre. It's made little to no practical difference in anything. And it's pretty evident his offensive numbers suck. The measurable you'd use to support the notion his defense has been good is also not saying what you think it is. His on/off numbers are strongly influenced by the fact that his return was simultaneous with Deng's, and with Noah / Tyrus getting more minutes and Gooden / Gray more or less disappearing. And frequently, Noc as well. So of course his on/off looks good... it's highly correlated to the fact you got a massive upgrade in Deng vs. Thabo, and Tyrus/Noah vs. everyone else. He's been on with those guys, and he was off (due to injury) at the same time they were off (due to injury and foolishness) leaving the team massively depleted. And finally, the "on court/off court numbers are way better than anybody but Noc's" point pretty much immediately defuses the argument that this number suggests Kirk "has a very positive influence on things".
His numbers were better at the beginning of the year too, but we all discounted it because it was only 6 games. There is clearly a difference. It's fine if you don't want to acknowledge it. And Noc's numbers are skewed by all the times he came in at the beginning of the season and shot the team back into the game with BG. Doesn't mean they aren't valid. Plus that makes Hinrich's numbers even more impressive since he's playing more meaningful minutes.
I don't think I completely discounted it (as in refused to acknowledge it existed at all). Sure, he's a somewhat better defender. It exists, like a racing stripe on a race car, but it matters very little in the context to this team, his fairly crummy measurable production (both offensively and defensively) and his large long-term contract.
First of all, Hinrich is playing with one hand. Second, he's asked to play defense next to Rose and BG and get the ball to them and Tyrus and Deng. Did anybody notice that Tyrus' best stretch of his career has coincided with the return of Hinrich? He facilitates the offense, takes care of the ball and plays defense. You're not measuring the right things.
There's no evidence his hand is still bothering him. He's measurably not taking care of the ball, he's turning it over quite a bit. I think Tyrus is playing about how he's generally played, just playing more. Look, you love the guy and that's fine, but he's not playing that well and it's silly to have the guy stuck as a backup here when he could be a starter somewhere else. On the TWolves or post Baron Davis Clippers, for example, he's a starter. Here, he's a backup PG with less than a 2/1 Ast/TO ratio who's making $10M to play $25M a game. If Kirk was my favorite player, I wouldn't want that for him. I'd want him to go somewhere he's got a future, cause it ain't here.
Where are you getting your stats from? Hinrich's AST/TO is 2.24. Rose's is 2.52. BG's is 1.37. Are you talking about BG or Kirk? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stati...=48&qual=true&season=2009&seasontype=2&pos=sg
As for his hand, the tape is a pretty big indicator that he doesn't have full capacity yet in his thumb, and in one of the articles it mentioned that it won't be full strength until he can rehab it in the offseason. Sorry, no link. But a guy with a taped thumb on his shooting hand isn't the guy I want thinking shoot first.
