Joe's Trade Breakdown: Chicago Bulls

Sacramento Kings

Bulls send: SF Andres Nocioni, PF Drew Gooden, PF Michael Ruffin, SF Cedric Simmons
Bulls receive: C Brad Miller, SF John Salmons

Analysis: Chicago added Gooden’s expiring contract to get out from under Nocioni’s exorbitant deal that has three years remaining. Nocioni was the heart of this team for some time with his gutsy play and willingness to take the big hits. This year however, his performance had declined due to some injury issues and a logjam at small forward. Gooden has produced for the Bulls, but injuries also plagued his season, and in the world of the cost-cutting NBA, his expiring deal was a huge bargaining chip. Ruffin and Simmons are throw-aways in this deal.

Bringing in Miller and Salmons is a great move on Paxson’s part. Miller, a former Bull, may be past his prime as a center, but his passing ability is league-renowned, and the Bulls need a consistent big man to balance the mostly erratic play of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. Salmons is having a break-out season, averaging over 18 points a game, which is ten points above his career average. If he can continue that success here, the Bulls’ next trade will have been that much more necessary.

*It should be noted that the Kings turned around and traded Ruffin to the Portland Trailblazers for forward Ike Diogu and cash.

New York Knicks

Bulls send: SG Larry Hughes (otherwise known as Cancer-Man.)
Bulls receive: C Jerome James, PF Tim Thomas, SG Anthony Robertson

Analysis: The Knicks received the best player in this deal, but Hughes wasn’t getting minutes ahead of Ben Gordon anytime soon. With as many shooting guards as the Bulls had, it was pointless to keep two that jack up shots whenever they feel like it, especially when you can dump the less talented of the two who makes over twelve million a year. Hughes didn’t want to stay in Chicago and Chicago didn’t want to keep him.

The interesting part of the deal is one of the players coming back to Chicago. Tim Thomas was a Bull a few years ago when Scott Skiles was still the coach. He came in as part of a trade, played three games, and then was told to stay away from the team by Skiles. He was released a short time late and went on to sign with the Suns. Why bring him back now? Paxson refers to the relationship between current coach Vinny Del Negro and Thomas from their playing days. (Yes, Del Negro is THAT young.) Hopefully Thomas’ stay will be more productive than his last, but he’s never been much more than a hit-man and a board-pounder. Jerome James was a mega-bust in New York, so if he’s healthy and contributes anything of note, that’s a bonus for Chicago. Anthony Robertson makes little to no difference in this deal.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Bulls send: SG Thabo Sefolosha
Bulls receive: The lesser of Denver and San Antonio’s first-round draft picks

Analysis: We won’t know the true value of the draft pick until the end of the season, but with the way Denver and San Antonio are playing, it won’t be very high at all. It will be in the mid 20’s at best. That being said, this was a player dump for the Bulls. With the acquisition of Salmons and the lack of a Kirk Hinrich deal, they were still loaded at the guard position and didn’t have the minutes for Sefolosha. He was a solid defensive talent, but his offense hasn’t caught up yet. Trading him was a necessary evil, bringing back a pick that could be used in a trade or to select a big man of the future. 

Paxson has since come out and stated he will remain the Bulls GM, so perhaps he will be around for the long run after all. His deals up until this latest deadline have put the Bulls in position to make a playoff run in the down-trodden Eastern conference while creating cap-room for the now over-hyped free agent market of 2010, when they could make runs at Bosh and Stoudemire without giving up valuable assets. It remains to be seen how this all shakes out, but at least the Bulls make an effort to improve. No big names were traded this year, so it’s not like they missed out like in past seasons. Now it’s time to see what Vinny can do with this group of incoming talent to quickly create a cohesive unit as the season heads down the stretch.