Bulls Bring Back Guard Kirk Hinrich To Chicago!
Captain Kirk is back home where he belongs. I’m sure that’s how a lot of Chicago Bulls fans feel after hearing the news earlier this afternoon that the team is officially bringing back their former seventh overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Kirk Hinrich to the team he spent his first seven seasons with before being traded to the Washington Wizards in a 2010 draft day deal. A lot are probably just as excited as Kirk himself that the former team captain is back.
“I’m very excited to be back in Chicago and to wear a Bulls uniform once again,” said Hinrich in a statement released by the Bulls. “I look forward to getting back out on the court as a Bull, and contributing to the team in any way I can.”
The 31-year-old Hinrich is coming off a mostly injury plagued season with the Atlanta Hawks where he had career lows in nearly every important statistical category from points per game to assists per game, rebounds per game, steals per game, minutes per game and his percentage from behind the arc. He actually didn’t fair that well in either of his stops with Washington or Atlanta.
I think by returning to the Bulls Kirk should feel a lot better though and help the team a lot, as he is now a seasoned veteran and not only helps one of the teams biggest needs this offseason by bringing in a great combo guard that could start at the point in Derrick Rose absence for much of the season, but he can also be a great backup point option once Rose eventually gets back and be a great mentor to the younger players such as recent draft pick Marcus Teague. He is also a really solid defender that should be a perfect fit in coach Tom Thibodeau’s defense first system.
Bulls general manager Gar Forman put it best in this statement also released by the team, “We are pleased to be able to bring Kirk back to Chicago. His ability to play both spots in the backcourt will help us immensely this season. Kirk’s tenacity and passion for the game compliment our style of play, and we look forward to seeing him back in a Bulls uniform.”
You can’t forget to that Hinrich, who has career averages of 12.5 points, 5.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.21 steals in 33 minutes per game over 634 career games is coming off two mostly injury plagued seasons with the Hawks. I’m sure it’s just a case of the hometown blues and he will be fine this year for the team though with the injuries also being things of the past I’m sure.
The great thing about him to is that he will give the Bulls great three-point shooting that should make up for the loss of Kyle Korver, who was ironically traded to the Hawks earlier this month. As he is the team’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made with 812 and three-point field goals attempted with 2,144, as well as a career .378 percentage from beyond the arc.
Hinrich is an overall great addition for a Bulls team though that is going through a major overhaul with their bench and team period, that needed to be done even after posting the best record during the past couple of years in the regular season but couldn’t get it done in the playoffs.
With the moves this Bulls team has made so far this offseason they could still be a pretty competitive team next season that a lot of people and media sleep on because of the status of Rose among other things. While they wouldn’t win the title I still feel strongly that they can at least get out of the first and second round again this upcoming season. If all else fails they should be able to make a full blown run again within the next two years. Either way I’m still excited and feeling good about Bulls basketball despite all the changes. It could be something good and needed to.
