Larry "Big Shot" Hughes and Chicago Bulls on the Trading Block

It seems like it has been three years since Larry Hughes drilled a buzzer beater in Utah to give the Bulls a much-needed victory on their last West Coast road trip. 

But it was only November, and few weeks later, after he hit a game-winner at home against the Knicks, Bulls commentator Stacy King began referring to the Bulls swingman as “Big Shot” Larry.

Since then, Hughes hasn’t been hitting any shots. In fact, he hasn’t hit any shots at all since being benched by Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro after several weeks of crying about playing time. 

It seems the fact that Hughes was averaging the fifth most minutes on the team was not enough for him.  It seems that “Mr. Big Shot” Larry is a better name for an aging veteran who is too high and mighty to play off of the bench.

There is no question that Hughes wants to be on the trading block. He has been talking about it for quite some time. 

For a while, it was not clear if the Bulls wanted to acquiesce to his request. With guard Kirk Hinrich’s return from injury still in question and guard Thabo Sefolosha’s shot nowhere to be found, the Bulls needed Hughes' scoring ability off of the bench.

The situation has changed dramatically. 

Kirk Hinrich is back ahead of schedule and playing pretty well considering the amount of time missed. The team looks better with him and guard Derrick Rose on the court at the same time.

Sefolosha still disappears for long stretches, but has looked better when he is in the game. Rose and guard Ben Gordon are the team’s two leading scorers, making that four guards lodged in front of Hughes.

At this point, he is most certainly on the trading block, so why isn't he gone? 

At first glance, Hughes looks like an excellent piece for a contending team to add. He is tall for a guard, can score, and plays very good man-to-man defense when he wants to. 

Additionally, his huge $13 million per year contract expires after next season, giving the team much-needed salary cap space heading into the 2010 offseason.

That being said, there are two big stumbling blocks keeping Hughes from finding a new home. 

The first one is the fact that he has basically said he will not accept being a bench player even though it is clear to everyone but him that is what he is at this point in his career. Even if a contending team wanted him, it would not be for him to play 35-minutes a game. His attitude has clearly scared a few teams off.

The other factor here is his giant contract. If the Bulls are to unload the costly veteran, they will need to get a player, or players, to match his salary. That could be tough since teams won’t want to give up a high-priced talent for a whiner like Hughes. The Bulls won’t want to take on another guy’s contact to watch him sit on the bench and joke with guard Lindsey Hunter.

For now, it looks like you might be finding a DNP next to Larry Hughes’ name for quite a while. What I am about to say next might make Bulls fans cringe, but we might see Larry get the minutes he wants on this team.

If Paxson pulls off a deal that sends Gordon, Hinrich, or Sefolosha to another team, Hughes slips back in the rotation. It might seem nuts but “Mr. Big Shot” Larry Hughes gives Pax some flexibility in the coming weeks.

For now though, he resided on the trading block, where he does not have to fight with anyone for minutes.   

For more articles like this including game previews, recaps, and injury reports check this out.