Cap'n Kirk will have to do. [video=youtube;H8M2NgjvicA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8M2NgjvicA[/video] [video=youtube;26K6HU6Cz_E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26K6HU6Cz_E[/video] [video=youtube;OFxXSXGd4hs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFxXSXGd4hs[/video]
I'm hoping for the Kirk Hinrich that showed up his first year in Washington before Wall came back. That Kirk played PG and was pretty decent and in a situation that was well suited to his strengths. I think that's a fair expectation for the reasonable optimist. I'm not sure if the video was tongue in cheek or not, but I don't think a comparison between Kirk and Jordan has ever been made seriously. Regardless, I'm excited to see Kirk back in the fold and think our team should be able to hold down the fort with him at PG. Kirk's never been great at breaking down a defense but has always been pretty good at running an offense. Rip, Boozer and Deng can all create for themselves without the ball in their hands and he should be able to hit them in their spots. I also recall being good at the pick n' roll and I actually think Boozer might be the best and maybe only big man he's ever played with that's really good at running it. I think they'll play well together.
The only comparisons would be... their likenesses on billboards to sell tickets, and maybe being announced last for the starting lineup. The commentary really is "players win championships."
I'm sure the marketing boost Kirk provides reduced whatever friction there might have been to paying him the money that he got. However, I'm inclined to think those considerations were marginal and not causal when they signed him. Bulls' players seem to think highly of him, management has always had high praise for him, Thibs has expressed admiration for his game, and Jerry Reinsdorf went on record saying Kirk's departure was his only regret during the 2010 FA. The Bucks were apparently willing to offer him more money than we did (maybe Skiles really wanted Kirk too?), so it's not likely that our offer was "above market" for what he could've gotten elsewhere. And of course the signing makes a lot of sense from a basketball standpoint. We all know Kirk's struggles from the last several years so I'm aware of what he is and is not as a player. But he is a good combo guard who plays very good defense and can run a structured offense well enough. So his skills match what we needed from a backcourt signing. Like most of the Bulls' signings, I think Kirk was a basketball move that had to pass a certain threshold of financial savvy. That's not quite the same as a financial move which then gets spun as strategic basketball management, which is what I think you're implying. That's fine. I might be wrong and you might be right. But I'm happy we signed Kirk.
I'd be OK with signing Kirk. Not at $4M, not at forcing us to the hard cap, and not as the full-time starter. So suppose Kirk isn't very good at running a structured offense, isn't very good at defense anymore, and continues to be the Adam Morrison level PER kind of player. What's plan B?
Jeez. I firmly believe that Hinrich's signing had nothing to do with the team's marketing efforts...Rose is the face of the Bulls. I think Noah's next. I guess we could argue about Deng or Hinrich being #3, but what's the point? Like it or not, the Bulls basketball talent guys like Hinrich the player. Hinrich is a starting PG on a good team only if PG is the 5th best overall player in the starting 5. On the Bulls, Hinrich is a starter only in terms of keeping Rose's seat warm. I find it kinda funny that some say Hinrich is grossly overpaid at $4mil. Honestly, this evaluation has got to be based on blind PER worship. He's still a good player who gets the game. IMO, at $4mil, he's a bargain.
And he (Jamal) wasn't worth that deal. Only since Atlanta has he found himself enough to be worth that kind of investment. I think Kirk's play the last two games tells us what we knew, which is that he is much better for this Bulls team than CJ or JLIII were, and he'll be a plus.
I'm not so sure about that. He had a PER over 15 for three straight years for us and led the team in scoring. Obviously only one guy on the team leads in scoring... But if a 31 year old with a sub 10 PER is worth $4M, I think a 23 year old with a 15+ PER and lead team in scoring is worth $6M.
