The Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng is out for Thursday night’s Game 6 against the Brooklyn Nets with an illness, the team announced right before tipoff.

Deng and point guard Kirk Hinrich, who is still bothered by a bruised left calf, are both out of the critical matchup. Marco Belinelli started in Deng’s place.

The Bulls have a chance to close out the series Thursday with a victory over the Nets at home. They lead the series, 3-2.

Deng has averaged 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists this series. According to ESPN, the Bulls have been outscored by 12 points per 100 possessions without Deng on the court.

Deng (illness) is out for tonight’s Game 6. Belinelli will start at SG & Butler at SF. #NETSvBULLS

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 2, 2013

Derrick Rose says he recruited Kirk Hinrich back to Chicago. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose told the media on Monday that even though he normally remains firm on his policy of not recruiting players to the team, he did admit that former teammate Kirk Hinrich was the first person he recruited back to the team this offseason, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com:

“Kirk is someone I could see playing alongside a long time. When you’re a hooper and you know someone on the court is going into a battle with you, and he’s not giving up if he knows you are going to keep battling and I’m someone that will keep fighting to the end, and he’s the same as you, so why not have him on the team? Kirk is the first person I recruited.”

With Rose set to miss a majority of the season, Hinrich will see extended minutes often times while starting as point guard. Hinrich played for the Bulls from 2003 to 2010. He reunites with Bulls forward Luol Deng who said it hasn’t been the same since Hinrich left:

“When you have a player here, you kind of overlook what a player does. In the past few years that Kirk has been gone I think, everyone that follows the Bulls, you start missing what he used to do. It was clear defensively how good he was and how committed he was to the team. I’m happy to have him back.”

Hinrich said he’s excited to be back but said he remembers his time when he first started out with the Bulls and how the team was in a rebuilding phase. It wasn’t a team that he said he would call a success. But he thinks it’s a good fit this time around:

“I don’t feel that much pressure. This is a good fit for me. The way they play, the things they emphasize.”

Assuming Hinrich remains healthy and Rose stays on schedule to return from ACL surgery, the two will share Chicago’s backcourt on certain games towards the end of the season.

The Chicago Bulls have traded three-point specialist Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBA/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls traded shooting guard Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and the deal will be complete pending a physical passed by Korver, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Also discussed in the deal is a possible sign-and trade-deal with guard Kirk Hinrich. The Hawks recently showed interest in Korver after receiving a traded player exception in the Joe Johnson deal to the Brooklyn Nets.

Korver, 31, is a 10-year veteran who averaged eight points and two rebounds last season. He is one of the league’s top three-point shooters, having shot 40 percent or better each of the past four seasons.

Pending passed physical, Bulls have traded Kyle Korver to Atlanta. Could be sign-and-trade w/Hinrich. Details soon at chicagotribune.com.—
K.C Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 13, 2012

The Chicago Bulls will not exercise their $3.7 million option on backup point guard C.J. Watson, reports the Chicago Tribune‘s K.C. Johnson.

Fairly obvious conclusion from the Kirk Hinrich signing, but C.J. Watson has been told his option won't be picked up.

—
K.C Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 08, 2012

The move had been expected by many during the offseason. With Derrick Rose out for part of the season, the Bulls planned to look for external help at the point guard position.

The team drafted Kentucky’s Marquis Teague in the first round of the NBA Draft and, earlier Sunday, agreed to terms with veteran combo guard Kirk Hinrich.

Hinrich’s signing made it apparent Watson would not be back. Hinrich, who started his career with Chicago, can provide a veteran presence at the position while Rose is out recovering from ACL surgery. When Rose returns, Hinrich can serve as his backup and play with him at times.

Watson, 28, has played five years in the NBA. Last season, he averaged 9.7 points and 4.1 assists per game as a part-time starter while Rose battled injuries.

Once nicknamed “Captain Kirk” by Bulls fans, Kirk Hinrich will make his return to Chicago this fall. (Grant Halverson, Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls have found the man to back up point guard Derrick Rose: His old backup. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Bulls have reached a verbal agreement with combo guard Kirk Hinrich, who played in Chicago for his first seven years in the league.

Hinrich was a valuable contributor in his first stint in Chicago, showing his versatility as he played and started at the  point guard and shooting guard positions. Hinrich’s role lessened with the team somewhat after they drafted Rose in 2008, though he did log valuable minutes off the bench. Hinrich was widely credited with helping to mentor Rose, which the Washington Wizards hoped he could replicated with John Wall when the team traded for Hinrich after the 2009-2010 season. However, things didn’t work out for Hinrich in Washington, and he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks midway through his first season in the nation’s capital.

Hinrich spent last season with the Hawks, averaging 6.6 points and 2.8 assists per game, which shooting 41% from the field.

The Bulls drafted Hinrich out of the University of Kansas with the seventh overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft. He is the Bulls’ all-time leader in three-point field goals, and has maintained a residence in the area since being traded.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the front-runners to land Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon if Steve Nash does, in fact, leave the Phoenix Suns for his native Canada, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

The Raptors would need to use the team’s amnesty clause on Calderon in order to free up enough cap space to sign Nash, and Stein reports that as long as the Lakers keep Pau Gasol, Calderon would head to Los Angeles to play with his fellow Spaniard:

It is widely assumed in NBA front-office circles that the Raptors will amnesty Calderon and the $10.6 million he’s owed next season to maximize their cap flexibility. That alone won’t get the Spaniard to the point guard-hungry Lakers. Calderon would have to clear waivers through the amnesty process before he’d be free to choose his next team. If Calderon does make it that far, though, sources say he’s excited about the prospect of playing with Gasol in L.A.

If Nash doesn’t go to Toronto and Calderon doesn’t end up in Los Angeles, the Lakers are expected to look at Kirk Hinrich, Jameer Nelson and Chauncey Billups, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. The Lakers point guard last season, Ramon Sessions, is someone the team would like to retain, but he has opted to enter free agency.

The Chicago Bulls will pursue free agent Kirk Hinrich, right, and likely not bring back Kyle Korver. (Ray Amati/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls will look to remake their second unit by pursuing free agent Kirk Hinrich, who spent the first seven years of his NBA career with the organization, reports the Chicago Tribune‘s K.C. Johnson.

Hinrich, who can play either guard position, could fill multiple needs for Chicago. He can start in place of Derrick Rose at point guard while Rose recovers from his torn ACL. Rose is expected to miss at least half of next season, though reports say his rehabilitation is going well.

When Rose returns, Hinrich could back him up and play alongside him. Hinrich has made nearly 42 percent of his three-point attempts in his career and would be a good outlet on Rose’s dribble drives.

In 2010, the Bulls traded Hinrich to the Washington Wizards, and he spent part of a season with the team. He was then traded to the Hawks and played a season and a half with Atlanta.

Johnson also reports that the Bulls are unlikely to exercise their contract options on Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson or Ronnie Brewer.

Acquiring Hinrich would help make up for the departure of Korver, the team’s shooting specialist, and Watson, Rose’s backup. Watson struggled some during the playoffs when he played major minutes after Rose was hurt in Chicago’s first postseason game. The Bulls also selected Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague with their first-round pick Thursday.

Johnson reports that Jimmy Butler, who Chicago drafted in the first round of the 2011 draft, would be expected to fill Brewer’s role.

Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich has missed the first 17 games of the season as he recovers from left shoulder surgery, but he now says he’s ready to make a return.

“I hope I’ll be playing sometime on this trip,” Hinrich told ESPN. The Hawks open a five-game road trip at Milwaukee on Monday night.

Hinrich, who turned 31 earlier this month, was acquired from the Wizards at the trade deadline last winter. He started 22 of the Hawks’ last 24 games, averaging 10.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.

The point guard had his surgery in November and was expected to miss 3-4 months, but he’s shooting for a quicker return.

It’s unclear whether Hinrich will return to his starting role. Jeff Teague has performed admirably as the Hawks’ point guard so far this season.