The Chicago Bulls bench John Salmons
The Bulls have decided to bench John Salmons replacing him in the starting line-up with Kirk Hinrich. Salmons is proving that last season was a fluke. He has played in 27 games (all starts) this season for the Bulls and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Salmons is only shooting 38% from the floor but that is better than Hinrich’s 36.2%. Hinrich has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. The one area this could help the Bulls out offensively is because Hinrich is a much better passer than Salmons which will likely help get more players involved in the offense.
I really like this move and I think the Bulls should have done it earlier. Hinrich and Rose play well together and Hinrich is the Bulls best perimeter defender. Salmons is a better scorer than Hinrich, and the Bulls have been struggling to get some bench scoring, so Salmons can be a nice scoring boost off the bench.