Bulls Rumors: Not Everyone Is Happy with Richard Hamilton Signing, but Should Be

Richard Hamilton is now a Chicago Bull. No more wondering what the Bulls are going to do. There's still people debating over whether it's what they should have done though. Let's put the conversation to rest. The Bulls won. 

If you want to know look no further than Derrick Rose's succinct and typically humble reaction. "I know my assists will go up." 

And really that one little quip tells you two things you need to know about why it's a great move. First, it shows that there is a second scorer. Second it shows that they obtained a second scorer who doesn't need the ball to be effective. 

There's a sort of presumption that somehow the Bulls "settled" for Rip; that they would have rather had Crawford or Richardson but could only get Hamilton. 

That's bogus. I don't know if they could have gotten the other two or not, but it was obvious that the moment Hamilton became available he was their top priority, not merely some sort of safety pick or fall back, and the day the Pistons placed him on waivers they reached an agreement. 

Discouraged Bulls fans need to take heart and skeptical Heat fans need to beware—this is the best move the Bulls could have made. 

Rip is one of the best in the league when it comes to moving without the ball and setting himself up to score. He moves endlessly and is one of the NBA's best conditioned players. Those who argue that this does nothing to solve the problems that the Bulls had in the conference finals last year could not be more wrong. 

The entire problem was that Rose had no other player to pass the ball out to when he got trapped across half court. Hamilton has lived off of the mid-range jumper his entire career and with him sharing the backcourt, the Heat just won't have the advantage they did before.

Contrary to popular belief James did not "shut down Rose" last year. The Miami Heat shut him down in the fourth quarter yes, and LeBron James was the biggest factor in that, but no, James did not do so alone.

In fact, according to Synergy tracking data, James guarded him one-on-one six times in the entire series. What actually happened was that the Heat double teamed Rose with Wade and James. If they do the same thing now, Rose has an outlet to Hamilton, a luxury he didn't have with Keith Bogans. 

Why is Hamilton a better alternative than Crawford or Richardson? There are two ways a shooting guard scores, with the ball and away from the ball. 

First, Hamilton is the best at creating shots away from the ball, not just of the three either. He's one of the very best in the NBA. Probably the only active player as adept at it is Ray Allen. Hamilton's 1.14 points per play on the spot-up is clear indication of how talented he is. 

Again, this is why the problem of the trap play is solved by his addition. Now Rose has a postseason-tested and proven teammate in the backcourt who is going to constantly move and create scoring opportunities without needing to dominate the ball. 

This is where he is very different from Crawford and a huge improvement. Crawford can create shots but needs the ball to do so. That means that he's taking the ball out of the hands of Rose, the Bulls' best playmaker. 

The other way of scoring is the ability to create shots. It's almost impossible to not improve on that as Keith Bogans literally only created one shot for himself all season last year. 

Richardson is a great spot-up shooter but he doesn't have the handles that Crawford or Hamilton has. 

Hamilton is the only one who can provide both skill sets, and while he isn't All-Defense, he's a solid defensive player and easily the best of the three. 

Another thing that gets lost in this discussion is that there are 62 games the Bulls are playing this season that don't involve the Heat. Adding Hamilton takes pressure and wear and tear off Rose. Another part of the reason Rose fell off in the playoffs was that he had too much on him during the regular season. 

Having Hamilton eases up the burden on him a bit and gives the Bulls the most complete starting five in the NBA. For those other 62 games it matters a lot. It means that Rose will be fresher come the postseason. It means there will be more leg in his jump shot come the postseason and a higher field-goal percentage. 

The Bulls didn't "settle" for Rip, they got their first choice. He was their first choice for a reason, and the main fallout of this is that Rose is going to see his assists go up. That is why Bulls fans should be happy with this signing.