Bulls plot thickens as they make salary cap room
Since about midway through the 2008-09 season, the Bulls have been thinking big.
It started with the trade of Andres Nocioni and his long-term contract, followed by the refusal two re-sign leading scorer Ben Gordon the following summer.
Another vital member of the "Scrappy Bulls" era is set to depart. The Bulls agreed to send guard Kirk Hinrich to Washington, along with the rights to No. 17 draft pick Kevin Seraphin. It's not clear what the Bulls will get in return, other than not much.
Here's what it means: By moving Hinrich's $9 million salary, the Bulls now have enough salary-cap room to sign two major free agents outright.
Atlanta's all-star shooting guard Joe Johnson is a virtual lock to sign with the Bulls. The team is hoping to pair him with either LeBron James or Chris Bosh.
The 6-foot-7 Johnson, who turns 29 in a few days, averaged at least 20 points for five straight years with the Hawks. He'd provide some outside shooting the Bulls lost when they bid farewell to Gordon, without the height issues on defense.
"We challenge ourselves each and every day here to try to make improvements and try to get better," Forman said. "Obviously, the free agent class this summer is as attractive as there's ever been in the history of the league. Obviously, we want to be very aggressive this summer to try to improve our team."
The trade with Washington won't be official until July 8, the date NBA teams can begin signing free agents and the Wizards will have the cap room to take on Hinrich. The Bulls aren't allowed to comment specifically on the deal until that date.
Hinrich spent seven seasons with the Bulls after being drafted with the No. 7 pick in 2003. He was usually the team's best individual defender, but didn't provide consistent offense. After peaking at 16.6 points per game in 2006-07, he averaged less than 11 points the last two years.
If the Bulls can land James - and they like their chances - then Luol Deng will almost certainly be traded. It's not clear where he'd go, but Orlando has offered backup center Marcin Gortat and swingman Mickael Pietrus, who could replace Hinrich as the Bulls' best perimeter defender.
That move, which is merely in the discussion phase, wouldn't give the Bulls any more cap room, but would allow them to save about $22 million in future salaries.
One roadblock for the Bulls is three different teams spent high draft picks on small forwards Thursday. Minnesota chose Syracuse's Wesley Johnson at No. 4, the Clippers took Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu at No. 8 and Utah chose Butler's Gordon Hayward at No. 9.
All three could have been potential destinations for Deng, but the chances are slimmer now. Most teams won't be eager to take on the $51.2 million left on Deng's contract, anyway.
Sacramento has been rumored as a possible trade partner and has the cap room to absorb Deng's salary. But a league source said there is nothing happening right now between the Bulls and Kings.
There is little chance the Bulls would turn away James, so they'll obviously be working hard to find a potential trade partner. If James goes elsewhere and the Bulls can sign Bosh or Utah's Carlos Boozer, they could field a starting lineup of Deng, Johnson, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and the new power forward.
The circus begins next Thursday when the NBA's free-agent negotiating period opens. There has been talk that James plans a recruiting tour with stops in Chicago, New York and possibly New Jersey, Miami and Los Angeles for the Clippers. At this point, the details are not clear.
A return to Cleveland once seemed inevitable, but that was before the Cavs suffered an early exit from the playoffs for the third straight year.
"It's our feeling that we've got a lot to sell here in Chicago, from a very good young nucleus of players - we've got the greatest fans in the NBA, a great city," Forman said. "We're real excited about (coach) Tom (Thibodeau) coming aboard.
"We think the future is extremely bright. The nucleus of our team are all in their early 20s. We think there is going to be a real window here for players to come and have a chance to have success long term."
Miami is also working hard to create more cap room. The Heat sold off the No. 18 pick of the draft and there was talk Thursday that Miami is willing to give away forward Michael Beasley, which could give it enough cap room to re-sign Dwyane Wade and still add two maximum-salary free agents.
New York will have enough money to sign two maximum free agents, but could be hurt by not making the playoffs the past six years.