Chicago Bulls: Should They Try to Replace Guard Richard Hamilton?

After being healthy for four straight games after the All-Star break, Bulls guard Richard Hamilton left the game against the Pacers with an apparent shoulder injury. Rip has only played 16 games out of a possible 40, and has only performed marginally well in that time. Is it time to try and acquire another solution?

The players that the Bulls would have to trade would be Taj Gibson, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Jimmy Butler and Rip himself. Those are the players on Chicago's roster who are not considered to be "core" pieces.

When you think about it though, where is the value? You are not going to be able to trade Rip, Brewer, Korver or Butler for another wing who is superior to any of those players. So at this point, you would have to trade either Omer or Taj. 

I need to flat out say it, Taj Gibson is too important to this team to trade. Even though he is not a starter, he might as well be. Carlos Boozer has shown a propensity to get injured, and even during the best of times does not play over 30 minutes a game. Gibson is a player who is already one of the best defensive power forwards in the league, so he also provides a different look compared to Boozer. 

The interesting case would be trading Omer Asik. He has improved his rebounding numbers marginally, but has not really improved that much defensively and has actually regressed offensively in some ways. He's a player that it would hurt to lose, but it would not kill the Bulls as long as they were able to bring in another acceptable backup center. 

What would Omer be able to net the Bulls? The answer is not much. Let's think back to what players the Bulls were looking at last season: Courtney Lee, Jamal Crawford, O.J Mayo and Arron Afflalo. There is no chance that Omer would be able to fetch Afflalo; the Nuggets have showed that he is a member of their core. The other options are certainly on the table, but do you really want any of them? 

All of these players are shooting a lower percentage than Rip. Lee is averaging less points in comparable minutes; Crawford is a FAR worse defender; Mayo will demand a big salary in the offseason. Are any of those players really worth a young, athletic seven footer? 

So at this point, it really isn't worth it to try and replace Rip. Maybe in the offseason the Bulls will look for an alternative, but at this point they should just try to ride it out and hope everyone is wealthy in the playoffs.