Bulls finalize roster, waive Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen

The Bulls did a little bit of housekeeping today, waiving Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen in order to get the roster down to 13. These moves had to be made of course, because the Bulls can't officially sign somebody else until Nov. 19 due to being hard-capped.

Aggrey Sam tweeted out after the announcement that he wouldn't be surprised to see Jaric back at that time:

They'll start the season at that number. Wouldn't be shocked to see Jaric return in about a month.

— Aggrey Sam (@CSNBullsInsider) October 24, 2012

I'm sure he feels that way for a couple of reasons. One is likely due to the fact that Marquis Teague has shown absolutely zero ability to make a positive contribution this season. And two, Kirk Hinrich has already had multiple health issues this preseason. Hinrich missed a preseason game with a thumb injury, and he also left last night's game with a groin strain.

The Bulls are naturally being secretive about the injury, and who knows just how serious it is. But groins are a tricky thing (just ask Richard Hamilton), so despite the assertion that Hinrich will be ready to roll for the regular season opener on Halloween, there are no guarantees with these things.

Which brings me back to the hard cap issue. If this groin injury actually becomes a thing, or Hinrich (or anybody else important for that matter) goes down with something else, the Bulls will be in a tough spot:

Hard cap teams screwed if injuries mount up: no 10-days, no DPE's, no DLeague call-ups. Nothing.

— NetsDaily.com (@NetsDaily) October 24, 2012

Imagine going into the season with Nate Robinson and Marquis Teague as your point guards. Pretty scary, huh? Which is why, even though it seems almost ridiculous to say, Hinrich is perhaps the most important player on the team right now with Derrick Rose out. Of course, the whole situation is somewhat humorous (also somewhat infuriating) because signing Hinrich got them into the hard cap pickle in the first place.

But...flexibility!