The Bulls have been badly bitten by the injury bug as of late. Joakim Noah is probably out for nearly the rest of the season, Derrick Rose has a sprained wrist, and Luol Deng has a strained calf. Luol Deng and Derrick Rose should return soon, but with all of these injuries, the Bulls look like they are going to miss the playoffs this year. While it will stink for the Bulls to miss out on the playoffs after playing so well before the injuries, there is one positive from all of these injuries, and that is James Johnson getting a chance to play extended minutes.

In a game at the beginning of the month, in which he got the start against the Atlanta Hawks, Johnson put up 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal in 23 minutes.

Against the Orlando Magic on Thursday, Johnson had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block.

Then came his game against the Miami Heat, in which Johnson exploded offensively. Johnson finished the game with 20 points on 8-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

In his 3 games as a starter this season, Johnson is averaging 14.0 points on 73.8 TS%, 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.7 blocks in 31 minutes.

While the sample size is small, Johnson is beginning to show that he could be quite the player on the NBA level, and there is no reason for him not to be. He is one of the strongest players in the NBA and he pairs that with a great ability at handling the basketball. These two attributes should help him be a good player.

Johnson needs to put together some more good games before he can be considered a legitimate player, but these past 3 games have really opened up people’s eyes to what Johnson can become. While the losses are tough to take, these injuries could end up being for the better if they ultimately are what allowed Johnson to change the trajectory of his career.

At the trade deadline last Thursday the Bulls made some moves that will allow them to sign a max free agent this summer.

The trades that the Bulls made should allow them to keep their playoff momentum. The Bulls lost John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas. I think Salmons will be missed some, as his improved play was one of the reasons for the Bulls’ turnaround this season. I don’t think that the Bulls will miss Thomas too much, and that the trade with the Bobcats will be a bit of addition by subtraction.

This is not to say that Thomas is a bad player. I think he will do well under Larry Brown in Charlotte. A coach, who is as respected as Larry Brown, is probably what Thomas needs to get his head on straight. Thomas always had talent, but he never really learned how to play within the system when he was with the Bulls. It will hurt to see Thomas reach some of his potential with another team, but we need to understand that for various reasons, he was unable to reach his potential here, and he was gone at the end of the season anyway, as keeping him would have prohibited the Bulls to sign a max free agent. The change of scenery will be good for Thomas.

In the trades, the key parts that the Bulls got back were Hakim Warrick and Flip Murray, two players who can score the ball. What is to like about this Bulls team is that their rotation consists primarily of veterans. Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Brad Miller, Flip Murray, and Hakim Warrick are all veterans. The three young players in the Bulls’ main rotation: Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah, are all very mature. As a result of this rotation, the Bulls should be able to limit the mistakes they make, which will be conducive to winning more games down the stretch of the regular season.

In the trades, the Bulls also received Acie Law and Joe Alexander. I don’t expect either of these players to achieve anything in their time with the Bulls, and expect both to not be on the roster next season.

The Bulls received a first round pick from the Bobcats, and gave the Bucks the option to swap first round draft picks, as long as the Bulls are not picking in the top 10 positions of the draft. The pick swap is no big deal, as the Bulls’ wisely put protections on it (unlike the Knicks when they made the pick swap with the Bulls in the Eddy Curry trade) and also, because the Bulls will likely be a better team than the Bucks.

One of the side effects from the Bulls trades is that they could help bounce Miami out of the playoffs. I think the trades that the Bulls made improved both the Bucks’ and Bobcats’ rosters and did nothing to make the Bulls roster worse.

The Bulls are currently sitting in the sixth seed, and Miami is in the seventh seed, 1 game behind the Bulls. Milwaukee and Charlotte are both half a game behind the Heat.

If the Bulls make the playoffs while the Heat miss the playoffs, I think there is a great chance that Dwyane Wade will leave the Heat for the Bulls this summer.

The Chicago Bulls have traded John Salmons to the Milwaukee Bucks and Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats in two trades leading up to the 2010 NBA Trade Deadline.

In the trade with the Bucks, the Bulls will receive Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick.

In the trade with the Bobcats, the Bulls will receive Flip Murray, Acie Law, and a future first round pick.

The Bucks trade is a key one as it ensures that the Bulls will have enough money to sign a max free agent this summer. The Bulls also added some front court scoring in Hakim Warrick, who is averaging 10.2 ppg on 54.0 ts%.

I would much rather have John Salmons on my team than Warrick, but Warrick isn’t a bad return for Salmons when you’re getting some potential financial relief.

The Bulls also received Joe Alexander in the trade. Alexander has not played in an NBA game this season after showing little ability at the pro level during his rookie season.

With the addition of Hakim Warrick, a bit of a logjam may have been created in the front court. I would rather have Tyrus Thomas on my team than Warrick, but getting rid of the distractions that come with Thomas may have been what ends up being best for the Bulls.

The first round pick is actually great return for Tyrus Thomas. It was a foregone conclusion that the Bulls were going to get rid of Tyrus Thomas this summer, so getting a first round pick out of him is better than nothing. Tyrus Thomas’ fate was sealed when the Bulls decided not to make an offer to Ben Gordon last summer. Once they let Ben Gordon go to Detroit, it was clear that they were going to pursue a 2010 max free agent, and Thomas had to go in order to make that happen.

While with the Bulls, Thomas showed flashes of brilliance, but he just never could put it together. This was seen this season when he came back from his injury and dominated for three games, and then began playing stupidly, finding himself a permanent spot on the bench. Tyrus always had the talent to be a great player, but he did not have the mentality to be a great player.

Because of this, Charlotte could potentially end up with a great player if the Charlotte coaching staff can get Thomas to put it together mentally. Even if Thomas goes on to become a great player in Charlotte, this was still the right move for the Bulls, as Thomas was never going to be a great player in Chicago, and it would have been foolish to keep him over a player that you know with certainty will produce for you that can be found in 2010 free agency.

The Bulls got in the Charlotte trade Flip Murray, who has been a low efficiency chucker throughout his career, and Acie Law, who has been a career scrub. Nothing big should be expected from either of these players.

The danger the Bulls put themselves in was trading with teams that they are competing for a playoff spot with. The Bulls are a 1/2 game ahead of Charlotte and 2 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the standings right now. These trades could potentially improve both teams, which could cause the the Bulls to miss the playoffs.

Regardless, I think these are trades that had to be made for various reasons. Gaining certainty on their ability to sign a max free agent was the one thing the Bulls had to accomplish at the trade deadline, and they have already done that.

Bulls management has told Salmons to remain at team hotel as it works to finalize a trade. Won’t play vs. Knicks.”>John Salmons has been notified by the Chicago Bulls that he will be traded. He has been told by Bulls management to stay at the hotel while they finalize a trade, according to K.C. Johnson in a twitter update.

Bulls management has told Salmons to remain at team hotel as it works to finalize a trade. Won’t play vs. Knicks.

This trade is crucial for the Bulls, as it will likely be for a true expiring contract. Salmons was likely to opt out of his current deal after he turned his season around after a rough start, but this trade will give the Bulls certainty that they will have enough money to sign a max free agent this summer.

I would imagine that a contender would be trading for Salmons, but it’s not too difficult to see a non-contender looking to trade for Salmons using one of their expiring contracts.

Some possible destinations to look out for based on this criteria are to the Houston Rockets for a few of their small expiring contracts, the Lakers for Adam Morrison, the Spurs for a few of their small expiring contracts, and the Jazz for Kyle Korver.

My gut instinct would say that Salmons is most likely to be traded to the Spurs for Michael Finley and Roger Mason Jr., but this is just a guess.

Some real details of where Salmons is headed, and what the Bulls are getting back for him should be available in not too long.

The Chicago Bulls could for the Washington Wizard’s Brendan Haywood, in a rumored deal that would send Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James to Washington, according to a RealGM user, who is said to be reputable.

The Bulls would come out as major winners in this trade as Brendan Haywood is the best player in the trade, and he is also an expiring contract. Haywood is averaging 9.7 PPG 10.3 RPG and 2.1 BPG this season.

After such a trade, the Bulls would have a big front court with Brendan Haywood, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and Brad Miller in the big men positions. I would move Joakim Noah down to the power forward position and start Haywood at center. With Noah and Haywood manning the big positions, I think the Bulls would be dominate defensively.

To make the trade work under the CBA, someone else would have to go out from the Wizards side.

I am not sure of how reliable the guy who is supplying the rumor is, but if a trade with these principles is on the table, than the Bulls front office needs to jump on it

The Chicago Bulls have signed Chris Richard to a 10-Day contract, according to Bulls.com.

The Chicago Bulls today signed forward Chris Richard to a 10-day contract. Richard, a 6-9, 256-pound forward, will be in uniform tonight in Atlanta when the Bulls take on the Hawks at Philips Arena at 7:00 p.m. (CT).

Richard, 25, appeared in six preseason games with Chicago this year and averaged 3.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg in 19.7 mpg, before he was waived on Oct. 22, 2009. Richard joins the Bulls by way of the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. In nine games (all starts) with the 66ers, he averaged 10.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.22 spg, 1.11 bpg, 0.9 apg and 30.6 mpg. He shot .623 from the field and .600 from the line while in Tulsa.

Richard should be solid in filling that spot minute big man role. Richard gives the Bulls a wide body which they were lacking after trading Aaron Gray to the Hornets.

Even if Richard doesn’t see much playing time, the move probably pleases Joakim Noah, who played with Richard at the University of Florida.

According to Bulls.com, Derrick Rose has been named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 59th All-Star Game, to be held in Dallas.

Bulls guard and Chicago native Derrick Rose has been named as a reserve on the Eastern Conference All-Star team, which will play in the 59th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

“I was in awe just thinking about it,” said Rose after the announcement was formally made on TNT. “I’m happy for the organization and I know they’re happy for me. My teammates, I wouldn’t be here without them. The coaching staff has been doing a good job. I’m just in awe right now.”

Rose becomes the first Bulls player to attain All-Star status since Michael Jordan in 1998.

It is nice that the Bulls finally ended their streak of not having a representative in the All-Star Game. The Bulls really should have had an All-Star in 06-07, when the Bulls were one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, and Ben Gordon and Luol Deng were putting together good seasons. I think those two guys were hurt a lot by the Bulls never really marketing them as star type players, rather elevating players like Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni to their level. With Rose, it was the complete opposite, Rose was marketed as the star from day one. Rose was being marketed as the star last season, even when Ben Gordon was clearly the best player on that team.

While I think this marketing of Rose as a star helped him over Gordon and Deng in years past, Rose still deserved his All-Star spot. When trying to come up with players who should be selected for a reserve role over Derrick Rose, I came up with: Rajon Rondo, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace, and David Lee. That is only five players and there are seven reserve roles, which meant Rose should be an All-Star.

David Lee is the one guy who I feel got snubbed. I think that Al Horford should have been left off the roster in favor of Lee. Here is a comparison of the two players’ stats.

David Lee: 19.6 PPG 11.6 RPG 3.4 APG 1.0 SPG 0.3 BPG
Al Horford: 13.6 PPG 9.8 RPG 2.2 APG 0.7 SPG 1.3 BPG

David Lee is nearly better than Al Horford across the board. The only thing that Horford is outproducing Lee in is shotblocking, and Horford isn’t exactly a great shotblocker himself.

Reflecting more on Derrick Rose, it really is amazing that Rose is an All-Star. For the beginning of the season, Rose looked like he had regressed as a player from year one to year two. In addition the Bulls were horrible as a team. Just a little over a month ago, there were whispers of Vinny Del Negro being fired. Now the Bulls are at 22-22, and any thought of Vinny deserving to be fired is crazy now. And this Bulls turn around began with Derrick Rose starting to take over more. After his poor start, Rose is nearly averaging 20.0 PPG on the season. It is truly amazing that Rose has managed to put together an All-Star level season this year after the poor start, and we can only hope that Rose keeps the ball rolling towards super stardom.