Larry Hughes is averaging 19 minutes in the four games he’s played in since returning from injury, and he’s not happy with his role.
“I don’t want to play like this,” Hughes said. “I’m not comfortable with 15-20 minutes. Something has to change.”
“You have to understand that situation and I do,” Hughes said. “We have a lot of guys at one position. Somebody has to come off the bench and you accept that role. But I’m not expecting 15-20 minutes, and I don’t want to deal with that.”
Hughes, a former All-Star and starter for an NBA finalist, said he would accept coming off the bench as long as his minutes increased.
“We all understood the situation going in,” he said. “I want to give it a little time, but being put in a situation not to succeed doesn’t do me or the team any good.
“I have a lot to offer as far as helping guys out. I want to be a positive influence. But not being out there in crucial times, I don’t see the benefit.”
Where do I start?
Hughes is shooting 38% from the field in four games and he’s demanding more minutes? His dreadful FG% would not be a big deal if he had a history of being a solid shooter, but he shot 38% last season and 40% the year before, so it’s not like he’s going to suddenly light it up.
Speaking of lighting it up, Derrick Rose is the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year honors while Ben Gordon is averaging 20.6 points on the season, so it’s not like Hughes can argue (with a straight face) that he should get more minutes at their expense.
Then there’s the issue of Kirk Hinrich coming back from injury. I’m afraid that Hughes is only going to see his minutes decrease when that happens, so he should be making the most of the playing time he’s getting now instead of complaining about it to the press. If he were more productive, the Bulls might be able to trade away Hughes and the two-years/$26 million remaining on his contract to a team that would be able to give him more minutes.
As it stands, it looks like Hughes will remain a Bull, and an unhappy one at that.
In my days of following sports, I’ve learned a couple of things about how athletes bounce back from injury:
