Hinrich Could be the Next Bull to Go, Cavaliers’ Miles Sets 3-Pointer Record

First it was Luol Deng on Monday, now on Tuesday, there were rumors that his teammate Kirk Hinrich could be the next player traded by the Chicago Bulls (14-18). The trade reportedly could come with the Golden State Warriors (23-13), who have a 10-game win streak.

Can you say the Bulls are already looking ahead to next season?

USA Today Sports wrote on Tuesday:

“While forward Carlos Boozer could be waived via the league’s amnesty clause during the offseason as yet another way to clear the Bulls’ books, it appears point guard Kirk Hinrich will be drawing the most immediate interest when it comes to the Bulls’ possible next move. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Golden State Warriors are among teams that had been showing serious interest in Hinrich long before the Deng trade.”

Kirk Hinrich

Is Hinrich that great of a trade? At 33, he has a 7.8-point average, 4.7 assists and 30.7 minutes per game; however, his shooting has gone south as he’s at a career-low with 34% from the field and 28.6% in three pointers. The Warriors have a point guard void to fill behind star Stephen Curry and in addition to Hinrich, Denver Nuggets Andre Miller is supposedly on their radar; however, after getting in some trouble, the player has been excused from the team “indefinitely.”

As for the future of the Bulls, they’re again moving ahead without its star, Derrick Rose, but you can’t help but wonder after his two missed seasons if the player will regain his top form or the team realizes it may be time to move forward.Without him.

On Tuesday, Bulls executive vice president John Paxson tried to alleviate some growing concerns by giving public support to Rose; he said in a news conference via ESPN,

“We do believe that Derrick’s going to be a great player again. We can’t promise anybody that, but that’s a belief of ours because we know Derrick well enough and we think he’s going to work hard enough. But the challenge always is building a team and putting the group of players together — in this case it might be more about building with Derrick, as opposed to saying, ‘OK, Derrick, you got to shoulder all the burden.’ But that’s OK. Because I’ve seen plenty of teams win in this league, too, at a very high level, going about it that way.”

For now, the Bulls will need to moved ahead and on Tuesday, they defeated the Phoenix Suns (20-13) 92-87. They sit in the sixth spot for the Eastern Conference and are 50/1 to win the 2014 NBA Championship.

In other NBA East news, the Cleveland Cavaliers (12-23) shook off the arctic chill and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers (12-23) 111-93. The game belonged to C.J. Miles, who set a team record with his 10 3-pointers (eight came in the first half). He also had a season-high 34 points for the night.

C.J. Miles

The Cavs jumped out for a 26-point advantage in the first half, no doubt assisted by Miles’ three-pointers, and in the second half, the player hit his record-breaking three in the fourth quarter (No. 9), followed by his 10th three-pointer 46 seconds later. He was also 10 of 14 outside the arc for the game.

For the Cavs,they have just won for a second time in 10 games. New teammate Deng was on the sidelines but All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving returned to play on Tuesday after missing the last three games with a bruised left knee. He had 16 points with eight assists in his 30 minutes of play.

Next up for the team is a five-game West coast road trip beginning on Friday against the Utah Jazz (12-25). The Cavs sit at 200/1 to win the 2014 NBA Championship.

As for the 76ers, the night wasn’t all about a loss. Rookie Michael Carter Williams had a career-high 33 points.