DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) -With the 17th pick in the NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls select … LeBron James and Chris Bosh?
Well, maybe.
And if Dwyane Wade decides to leave Miami, he just might have a home in his hometown, too. Suddenly, the possibilities in Chicago seem endless.
Already expected to be major players in free agency, the Bulls now have enough salary cap room to reel in two high-profile free agents after agreeing to trade veteran guard Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in the draft to the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
The Bulls would not confirm the trade, but a person familiar with the situation said an agreement is in place.
eive a future second-round pick in the deal, which was first reported by ESPN.
For Chicago, the expected trade has huge implications.
The deal would clear $10.3 million from the books for next year and leave Chicago with about $30 million to spend in a star-studded market that will likely include James, Bosh and Wade when the free agent negotiating period begins July 1. Depending on where the cap winds up, the Bulls might even have enough to offer two maximum contracts.
If not, they’ll be close. Either way, they’re in a good position.
Along with all that cap space, they also boast one of the NBA’s top young point guards in All-Star Derrick Rose, a rich tradition and a sports-mad city. After back-to-back 41-win seasons and first-round playoff losses, the Bulls are looking for more.
Firing coach Vinny Del Negro and replacing him with longtime NBA assistant Tom Thibodeau, the mastermind behind a dominant defense that helped Boston reach the NBA finals two of the past three years, was a preliminary move. The same goes for the trade.
Hinrich averaged 13.4 points in seven seasons with Chicago and figures to give the Wizards a reliable veteran to go with No. 1 pick John Wall and Gilbert Arenas, but trading him puts the Bulls in position to make several big moves.
to the Stanley Cup. Or, the way Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did while leading the Bulls to six championships in the 1990s.
General manager Gar Forman also acknowledged after taking 6-foot-9 forward Kevin Seraphin of French Guyana with the 17th pick that the Bulls are “currently in discussions” to trade his draft rights but would not identify the team or any other specifics.
Seraphin spent the past four years playing at various levels with French club Cholet Basket and signed a three-year contract last August.
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