Bulls Trade

[thefish7]

First Bulls trade... Being reported that John Salmons has been sent to the Bucks for expiring contracts Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=4922618

Wonder if they'll get another pulled off. I think this first trade allows them to pursue one major FA in the off-season. Another trade including Thomas, Hinrich, Deng (I'd love to see someone take him), or some combination thereof would allow them to run at two big-time contracts.

[BUfan14]

Ya the Lakers are still hotly pursuing Hinrich I've heard too. If they find a team to take Sasha it might happen. Salmons became expendable after Brown was acquired. I don't think Deng will go though because I believe most people's ideal lineup for next year is Rose, Wade/Joe Johnson, Deng, Bosh, Noah. I'm not particularly a fan of Deng, but I don't want to see Hinrich go either.

[thefish7]

I'd rather move Deng, because I think he's not worth the money and that deal goes on FOREVER. Hinrich's a little overpaid, but his contract expires after next season.

I want Bosh (and failing him, David Lee) and someone else-- (LBJ would be nice lol)-- Joe Johnson seems like a good target. I don't think Wade is a great fit with Rose, because he does a lot of his best work while bringing the ball up.

[VeveJones007]

My guess is that they move Thomas for a pick and that's it. Then it'll come down to who wants to join a solid cast in Chicago. If I'm LBJ, there probably isn't a better situation outside of (maybe) Cleveland.

[Da Coach]

I doubt the Bulls will trade Hinrich or Deng now since they are in the playoff race and need them. With their win last night, the Bulls have climbed into the 6th slot in the east, and are just 1 game out of the 5th slot. Nobody thinks they can win more than maybe 1 round, but at least it looks good to their season-ticket holders to be competetive this year.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/standings;_ylt=AlOK2IseJP7XKGUlKxHoWmK8vLYF

They were a little over $5 million short of the available free agent money they needed to offer maximum contracts to the couple top free agents they are interested in (Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade), and Salmons had a $5.8 million player option for next year. That means he (and his agent) could have "held up" the Bulls this summer and demanded a huge buyout or prevented them from competing for Bosh or Wade. So a trade of Salmons for players who are worthless to the Bulls but have expiring contracts is what this trade is all about.

[unbekannt]

Ya the Lakers are still hotly pursuing Hinrich I've heard too. If they find a team to take Sasha it might happen. Salmons became expendable after Brown was acquired. I don't think Deng will go though because I believe most people's ideal lineup for next year is Rose, Wade/Joe Johnson, Deng, Bosh, Noah. I'm not particularly a fan of Deng, but I don't want to see Hinrich go either.

I think the chances of the Bulls landing Wade/Johnson AND Bosh are extremely low. Joe Johnson should be a good fit, and it sounds like he'll be leaving ATL at the end of the season. I'm not sure how good Bosh is since he's been on a bad team for so long.

[houstontxbrave]

My guess is that they move Thomas for a pick and that's it. Then it'll come down to who wants to join a solid cast in Chicago. If I'm LBJ, there probably isn't a better situation outside of (maybe) Cleveland.

Dont laugh but check out the flexiblity that the LA Clippers just gave themselves. They also have a lot of solid pieces shooters, length, a moble center. Imagine Lebron going right at the spotlight that is Kobe in LA and going at it right in Kobe's own house with the other LA team.

It might not happen but I guarantee the Clippers have as good of pieces as anyone that could lure Lebron.

[Da Coach]

Some sources are now reporting that these 2 trades are finalized, or will be shortly-

John Salmons to the Milwaukee Bucks for 2 expiring contracts- for Hakim Warrick, and Joe Alexander.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/John-Salmons-heads-to-Milwaukee-expirings-retur?urn=nba,220571

Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats for Acie Law, Flip Murray, and Charlotte's 1st round draft pick (probably the 2010 draft)).

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15351

Again, the Salmons trade is really about freeing up salary for the free agent market this summer. The Tyrus Thomas trade is about getting something in return for Thomas (the 1st round pick) before the trade deadline expires (2pm Central today), since they don't intend to try to resign him after this season when his contract expires. All 4 of the players the Bulls acquired have contracts that expire after this season, but the Bulls are hopeful some of the players they got in return could help them this year as they make a playoff push.

[BradleyBrave]

For the first time in a LONG time, I think there is legitimate reason to be excited about the future of Bulls basketball. They've freed up enough space to offer a max deal to one of the big boys, and still have enough to sign a second tier player as well. If they happened to get lucky and move Hinrich, they'd have enough for two max deals.

Regardless of whether they have enough for one or two deals, unlike a few years back when they had more money than anyone and targeted Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, and Tim Duncan and ended up with the great Eddie Robinson, the Bulls have a LOT of things going in their favor. They have a solid young core - A budding all-star point guard in Derrick Rose (yeah, he could have played in the MVC ), a potential all-star center on the rise in Joakim Noah (one of only a handful of guys averaging a double-double), a decent (when healthy) small forward in Luol Deng, and a solid young 6th-7th man in Taj Gibson. They have a front office that is respected as opposed to despised with John Paxson at the helm. They also will NOT have Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan blackballing the franchise to free agents as they were rumored to have done back when Jerry Krause was still running things. Also, potential FA's will likely have a say in who the next head coach will be, where as previously the Bulls were locked into the great Tim Floyd for the long haul. Add all those things to the Bulls being in the 3rd largest media market (which is a big deal to shoe companies and other advertisers), and are annually among the top teams attendance-wise, and you've got a pretty good resume to present to the top free agents in 2010.

Now, I am not predicting anything. LeBron has strong reasons to go to New York, and Wade has strong reasons to stay in Miami. But I truly believe the Bulls have a real strong chance at landing one of the top 3 free agents this summer, and being an Eastern Conference contender for years to come.

[Da Coach]

I think they will go strong after Wade, and despite all the reports he'll stay in Miami, I think the Bulls can get him.

Also, I am not sold on Lebron to the Knicks. Even with Lebron, they are such a bad team, they won't be able to win a championship anytime soon, and that is what LeBron wants now more than anything else (since he'll have all the money he could spend). I am not suggesting the Bulls could get LeBron, but I think he's more likely to stay with the Cavs. If that happens, the Knicks will throw everything at Chris Bosh.

[thefish7]

I mean, for these top guys, the money is the same at every team, right? It's about the package you offer-- coaching, current team, city, marketing potential, etc.

If LBJ comes out of Cleveland (I don't think he will) you have to throw EVERYTHING at him. Rose and James would be just sick together.

If you can't clear out enough room to make two top offers, I think David Lee will be an FA, and I don't think he'll pull max deal yet, and think he'd be an awesome frontcourt mate with Noah.

[SFP]

Dont laugh but check out the flexiblity that the LA Clippers just gave themselves. They also have a lot of solid pieces shooters, length, a moble center. Imagine Lebron going right at the spotlight that is Kobe in LA and going at it right in Kobe's own house with the other LA team.

It might not happen but I guarantee the Clippers have as good of pieces as anyone that could lure Lebron.

You are probably right that it will not happen but with Blake Griffen being able to play next year as well as the other pieces it may be interesting. Frankly Cleveland has done all you can do to try and keep him.

[BradleyBrave]

Dont laugh but check out the flexiblity that the LA Clippers just gave themselves. They also have a lot of solid pieces shooters, length, a moble center. Imagine Lebron going right at the spotlight that is Kobe in LA and going at it right in Kobe's own house with the other LA team.

It might not happen but I guarantee the Clippers have as good of pieces as anyone that could lure Lebron.

You make good points, but there's no way LeBron wants to share a town, a spotlight, or an arena with Kobe Bryant. No way. I put the chances at him becoming a Bull as slim and none, and I put the chances at him becoming a Clipper below that.

[VeveJones007]

I mean, for these top guys, the money is the same at every team, right? It's about the package you offer-- coaching, current team, city, marketing potential, etc.

Yeah, but max deals are bigger when the player stays with his current team. I'm not sure how much, but I know it would be in the millions over the length of the contract.

LeBron is really the only game-changer available in the sense that if you get him, you're in line for titles. If you get Wade or Bosh or Amare, you're in the picture, but not a clear cut favorite.

I think it will be really interesting to see what happens. The Bulls could also pull off a sign-and-trade for a 2nd piece if they get one of the top guys. I think I would put my preference as 1) LeBron (whether they get a 2nd guy or not), 2) two of the other top guys.

[BradleyBrave]

Great article on where all the major players for the summer of 2010 salary cap-wise.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13610/the-teams-who-will-compete-in-2010-free-agency