Chicago Bulls Rumors: Shopping Richard Hamilton Is Brilliant Move by Bulls

The Chicago Bulls might have been the best regular-season team in the NBA's Eastern Conference in each of the last two seasons, but they are flawed and have to make drastic changes if they want to take the next step in the postseason. 

Richard Hamilton was one of the players they brought on board last year to try to kick-start the offense, which was their Achilles' heel in 2010-11. 

Now, coming off an injury-plagued season and his lowest points-per-game average (11.6) since his rookie season, the Bulls are wisely shopping Hamilton to anyone willing to make an offer, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

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Along these lines, league sources said the Bulls have shopped Richard Hamilton’s expiring $5 million deal, which carries a mere $1 million guarantee for 2013-14. Thus far, there have been no takers.

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The Bulls may not end up finding a taker for Hamilton because of how he looked last season, and the fact that he is 34. But at least they are trying to do something with him, if for no other reason than to clear up cap space. 

Derrick Rose is clearly the glue that holds the entire ship together. His torn ACL in last year's playoffs sealed the Bulls' fate, even if they had just gone up 1-0 against Philadelphia in that series. They were doomed when he went down. 

Changes have to be made for the Bulls to compete with Miami and Boston. Even a team like New York, despite losing Jeremy Lin, is closing the gap on the Bulls. 

Putting Hamilton on the block opens up a world of opportunities for the Bulls. They have a strong nucleus, but there are pieces that either don't fit in the puzzle, like Hamilton, or pieces that have to be added. 

If the Bulls can get Hamilton's salary off the books, they can explore more options in order to get over that playoff hump. 

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