“On rumored Jamal sign and trade, probably wishful thinking from Hawks/Jamal camp. Crawford is a Bulls candidate, but not trading Brewer for him.”
The Bulls only have their $5 million mid-level exception to use…and it’s unlikely Crawford would sign for only $5 million a year. So unless management decides to part with a tradable asset like Brewer, I’d hold off on pre-ordering a new Bulls jersey with Crawford’s name on it.
Caron Butler begins a busy week Monday with at least four visits lined up to teams interested in signing the Dallas Mavericks’ free-agent forward.
Butler will visit with team officials from the Chicago Bulls on Monday morning, followed by trips to sit down with officials from the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday and possibly the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, a source close to the situation confirmed Sunday night.
Not sure how I feel about a 31-year-old coming off a sugery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. Plus he’s a career 31.9 percent three-point shooter. He did knock down an uncharacteristic 43.1 percent of his treys in 29 games last year before suffering that season-ending injury. Although Butler can create his own shot, the Bulls need to be able to space the floor better and thus need a better long-distance threat.
Vince Carter isn’t a free agent yet, but sources close to the situation say the eight-time All-Star will be thrust onto the open market shortly after the end of the lockout.
Based on an amendment in his contract obtained by ESPN.com, Carter must be waived by the Phoenix Suns within 72 hours of the official start of free agency or his $18 million salary for the 2011-12 season becomes fully guaranteed.
The Suns, sources said, have already decided to waive Carter within that window.
Here’s what I think about the idea of bringing in Carter:
Look, Carter takes bad shots, rarely attacks the rim anymore, and dogs it on defense. Tom Thibodeau demands all-out desire and intensity from everybody on his roster. Is Vince Carter going to provide that?
“Rumors were circulating Sunday that the Washington Wizards, in an attempt to shake things up, are shopping swingman Caron Butler, with the Bulls and the Miami Heat being the likely trading partners. From the Bulls, the Wizards reportedly would seek guard Kirk Hinrich to provide some stability. The rumors also had the expiring contracts of Jerome James and Mike James being included, although the contracts of Butler ($9.78 million) and Hinrich ($9.5 million) are close enough to do the deal straight up.”
Isn’t it funny how almost every trade rumor involving the Bulls centers around Captain Kirk? It’s as though every team in the league wants a shot at Hinrich while the Bulls apparently want nothing more than to be rid of his contract. Forget the fact that when the Bulls are playing well, he’s usually a big part of the reason why. It’s always Hinrich to the Blazers or Hinrich to the Clippers or Hinrich to the Jazz or Hinrich to the Nuggets or Hinrich to the Timberwolves or Hinrich to [Team X]. Well, at least Kirk should feel wanted. Outside of Chicago anyway.
Jackson continued: “Is this a deal that makes sense for the Bulls? Probably. Although Hinrich can play both guard positions and Butler is more of a small forward, Butler can play shooting guard and split minutes with John Salmons. Jannero Pargo and Mike James could play point guard for the few minutes that Derrick Rose is out of the game.”
Eh…I’m always wary of bringing in a new player and immediately asking him play out of position. It also seems that while some players can move from SG to SF, the transition from SF to SG tends to be a little rocky. Just ask John Salmons, who was moved back to the two spot when Luol Deng returned and then promptly forgot how to shoot the basketball. On the other hand, Butler can put up 20 PPG when healthy — note that Caron has missed at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons – and the Bulls (as everyone knows) could certainly use the scoring help.
Of course, Butler isn’t an inside scoring threat nor is he a high-percentage three-point shooter (currently 30.0 percent and only 31.5 percent for his career). Which begs the question: what does he have to offer that the Bulls don’t already have? I mean, 72 percent of his field goal attempts are jump shots. Chicago already has twoplayers in that mold.
I also don’t feel very confident with Jannero Pargo and Mike James as the team’s backcourt relief corps. Pargo is more of a shooter/scorer/spark-plug off the bench (even if Vinny Del Negro has apparently forgotten Jannero was signed last summer), and Mike James is, well, Mike James. There’s a reason he’s played for nine different teams in his nine-year career.
One last important tidbit from Jackson’s report: “Another factor is Butler has just one year remaining on his contract following this season, while Hinrich has two years left. That could an important factor moving forward as the Bulls try to re-sign Rose and center Joakim Noah.”
This trade is exactly what you’d call “close to happening,” but you never know. With all of Chicago’s expiring contracts, this won’t be the last trade rumor the Bulls are involved in before the February trade deadline.