NBA Rumors: Rip Hamilton Is Best SG Option Available for Chicago Bulls

Bulls fans have had many years to get to know Rip Hamilton as the longtime Pistons’ star has run many a Chicago shooting guard off screens. Now, it appears they may find themselves cheering for the masked man for the first time.

ESPN reports that now that Hamilton has been waived by Detroit, Chicago is expected to pursue him aggressively for their troublesome SG spot. Incumbents Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer gave the Bulls just 10.6 points per game between them last season.

Even at age 33, Hamilton is as good a short-term solution as the Bulls are going to find at the shooting guard position. He’s a consistent scorer and, most vitally, he’s a solid defender after all those years on the defense-first Pistons.

That means that unlike Kyle Korver, Hamilton isn’t going to be forced off the court in a playoff game because he’s such a liability on defense that coach Tom Thibodeau has no other option. Very few of the guards on the free-agent market can say that, making Hamilton a solid choice.

The two obvious knocks on Hamilton are his age and his lack of three-point range. The former is certainly a concern for a team on the rise, but there aren’t really any younger options to be had who can do the job.

If Chicago signs Hamilton to a reasonably short-term deal, it can keep hunting for other SG prospects in the draft or in next year’s deeper free-agent class. In the meantime, Hamilton can get the job done as Derrick Rose’s sidekick.

The other concern, that Hamilton is a mid-range scorer who’s never hit more than 70 treys in a season, is also problematic without being a deal-breaker. Luol Deng’s developing three-point shot will help keep defenses honest, and Hamilton’s experience makes him immensely difficult to guard even though he isn’t a good spot-up option.

Would the Bulls rather have someone with Mike Dunleavy’s unlimited range? Absolutely, but not if they have to put up with Dunleavy’s defense to get it.

Perhaps the only guard supposedly available who might be a better fit than Hamilton is O.J. Mayo, but the trade assets it would likely take to land him are too high a price to pay for a player who’s a serious character risk.

Even without draining threes, Hamilton will be an appreciable improvement as a scorer over Bogans and Brewer without being a major sacrifice defensively. In a free-agent market without a ton of options—and not having a ton of cap space themselves—the Bulls aren’t going to find a better solution to a desperate need.