Caron Butler to Chicago for Kirk Hinrich?

The Mike Jones Report:

The Wizards might not have a hard time dealing Caron Butler in a package deal with James, however, but not to Houston. I'm hearing Butler and James could be headed to either Miami or Chicago. Some of the pieces Washington could be trying to get back from Chicago, the source said, could be Kirk Hinrich and Jerome James. Before, the Wizards hadn't wanted to take on more money, but it appears that as they grow more desperate to turn things around, their main motivation is bringing in new life to kick-start a rebound.

Well this is interesting for several reasons. First, why would the Wizards take on Kirk's longer contract for Butler who's a clearly superior player even if he's having a down year. It makes so little sense.

On a microspecific level, the Bulls would really be hurt in 2010 by the extra 1.5 million that Butler makes over Hinrich. They don't really have a way to trim up the extra salary to get max contract room making this trade.

Also, how do you play Butler and Deng together? They're both more or less pure threes. You could probably go small and play them at the three and four, but it doesn't seem like a real natural fit talentwise either.

I think the Bulls have to take this deal if it's on the table just because you always take a deal where you win on the contract and on the talent, but it seems like an odd fit for the Bulls. It seems like an even odder fit for the Wizards who'd lose in both talent, contract, and fit.