Just over two years after getting traded from the Chicago Bulls to Washington Wizards, sources said free-agent guard Kirk Hinrich has verbally agreed to return to the franchise that drafted him.
Hinrich, who spent his first seven seasons with the Bulls, is expected to sign a two-year deal worth just over $6 million, one source said, though details were still being finalized. The free-agent moratorium ends on July 11.
Hinrich solves the Bulls’ primary need for a combo guard who can start at point guard while Derrick Rose rehabilitates from knee surgery, then slide over to shooting guard to back up Richard Hamilton and play alongside Rose eventually.
Hinrich, 31, averaged 6.6 points and 2.8 assists on 41.4 percent shooting in 48 games for the Atlanta Hawks last season. He has averaged 12.5 points and 5.4 assists on 41.7 percent shooting in nine NBA seasons.
Though he has been slowed a bit by injuries and age, Hinrich is still considered a strong perimeter defender who can guard multiple positions. Hinrich, drafted seventh overall in 2003 as John Paxson’s first pick as Bulls’ general manager, has kept an offseason home near the Bulls’ training facility. He told the Tribune in March he’d be open to a return.
The move signals the end of C.J. Watson’s tenure in Chicago. The Bulls have a July 10 deadline to pick up Watson’s $3.2 million team option. But with Hinrich, Rose and rookie Marquis Teague in the fold, Watson’s option almost certainly won’t be picked up.
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
This is why John Paxson needs to go. no Lamarcus Aldridge, Jammal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Ben Gordon, then you pick up Boozer, R.I.P. Hamilton, & of all the free agents you revisit Kirk Hinrich? You have got to be kidding me. All other teams are making quality moves & the best he can do is this. WOW we’re really gonna raise hell in the East with this move. The Bulls need to stop being so cheap & put some quality players with the studs that are Rose, Deng, & Noah. Before they make the same mistake Dan Gilbert did with Labron, putting 2nd rate players around him. We’ve got to contend with the Heat, I’m sorry but Kirk Hinrich will not get it. Get rid of Boozer, I was screaming at the top of my lungs for them not to get him & pay him that big salary. I beginning to think that the only reason Paxson picked up Rose , was because of the public out cry. This pick up sucks!