Richard Hamilton fits for Chicago Bulls’ shooting guard position
Chicago Bulls needs a shooting guard. It would be fit if Bulls get Richard Hamilton to charge in shooting guard position. The rumor details!!!!!
Bulls appear poised to make move at shooting guard, Hamilton could be fit for them
Derrick Rose wouldn’t mind if the Chicago Bulls stood pat. If they add Richard Hamilton? Well, that would be fine with him, too.
The Bulls held Keith Bogans out of practice as training camp on Friday, fueling speculation that they would bring in another shooting guard.
Hamilton will be available when the Detroit Pistons officially part ways with the veteran, and Chicago seems like a potential fit.
“Rip is a winner,” Rose said. “Can’t say anything bad about him. He won a championship. He’s great. … If he comes along, I know that we’ll be lucky to have him.”
It’s no secret that the Bulls were looking to upgrade at shooting guard after winning an NBA-leading 62 games but coming up short against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Hamilton is a three-time All-Star who spent nine years in Detroit and led the Pistons to the 2004 NBA title. But at 33 years old, he’s coming off one of his worst seasons.
He clashed with former coach John Kuester and got benched for much of a seven-week stretch at one point.
At 14.1 points, he posted his lowest average since he scored 9.0 per game as a rookie with Washington in 1999-200, but the 6-foot-7 Hamilton would give the Bulls a big guard to pair with MVP Derrick Rose.
Jason Richardson and Jamal Crawford also are available.
As for Bogans, the Bulls have a $1.73 million option and a Dec. 19 deadline for a decision on it. The veteran started all 82 games last season and averaged 4.4 points.
“At this time, we are exploring several options in finalizing our roster,” general manager Gar Forman said. “We have always respected Keith’s professionalism and we hope to have more clarity on this situation soon.”
Rose had nothing but praise for Bogans, saying, “He’s always been a good veteran to me.” He also blamed himself again for the Bulls coming up short in the playoffs.
“With the team that I had, I thought that we were good,” Rose said. “The reason that we lost last year was because of me not making the right plays, not passing to my teammates when they were open (and) just making that extra pass.”
It’s hard to find fault with Rose, considering he became the youngest MVP in league history, but he continued to point the finger at himself even though he’s in line for a maximum contract extension. He’s not sure when that will be finalized, but it’s more of a formality than anything else.
“I let (agent B.J. Armstrong) handle that,” Rose said. “Gar hasn’t said anything to me about it, not yet. I’m just letting my agent and my brother handle everything. Hopefully, it’ll be over soon so that we can get things going.”
There was plenty happening on Friday.
Besides trying to address their issues at shooting guard, the Bulls signed first-round draft pick Jimmy Butler out of Marquette.
Of course, there was plenty happening on the court, too — finally.
Coach Tom Thibodeau was “relatively” happy with the players’ conditioning.
“There’s a long way to go,” he said. “No one was overweight. You can tell guys had put in the work, but there’s nothing like playing in an NBA game. There’s nothing that can simulate a game condition.”
The Bulls might be positioned better to withstand the grind of the truncated 66-game schedule, given their familiarity and depth, but it won’t be easy.
They will rarely have more than one day off once the season starts, and they don’t have much time to prepare for the opener against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 25.
“I think having familiarity with each other — with our group, with our team, with our system — hopefully, that’ll help,” forward Carlos Boozer said. (AP)
