ESPN 1000 is reporting that Larry Hughes has been traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Tim Thomas and Jerome James.

The Bulls will also receive Anthony Roberson from the Knicks.

The trade isn’t exactly a great one for the Bulls, but it was better than the alternative, which was keeping Hughes.

Jerome James and Tim Thomas’ contracts both expire in 2010, although James has a player option for next season. James also may give the Bulls some cap relief if he medically retires.

The only real positive to this trade, other than getting rid of Larry Hughes, is that it gives the Bulls more flexibility in making trades next year. Now instead of just one, big expiring contract in Hughes to work with, the Bulls will have two, smaller expiring trades to work with.

When looking at the trade, one has to wonder, are the Bulls trading one malcontent for another? The Bulls probably won’t want to play Tim Thomas too much as he hasn’t been a very efficient scorer through the course of his career. Perhaps, Thomas will come in and just fill Nocioni’s old role. Or another trade could be on the way, which opens up playing time for Thomas.

But what happens if Thomas doesn’t get playing on this team, just like Hughes? After acquiring him in the Eddy Curry deal a few years ago, the Bulls sent Tim Thomas home for the season, eventually buying him out. Perhaps Thomas will show a little more professionalism and effort this time around. It would be embarrassing to be sent home for a season by the same team twice in your career after being traded to that team by the Knicks twice.

However, Del Negro has commented that he has never had problems with Thomas when he played with him as a player, or when he was in the Suns front office, so problems with Thomas might not be part of the Bulls future.

In conclusion, this isn’t the deal that everyone was hoping for. People were hoping for some form of salary relief for next year by taking back at least one expiring contract. But contracts of equal value are all you can get for players with low values like Larry Hughes, so this was realistically all the Bulls ever had a shot at receiving for him.

Similar Posts:

• Bulls In Trade Talks With Knicks Regarding Larry Hughes
• The Bulls In Wake of the Trade Deadline
• Sefolosha, Hughes, and Thomas Available
• More Trades On the Way
• Rumor Press: Boozer Could Be Traded To the Bulls

Tags: Anthony Roberson, Chicago Bulls, Jerome James, Larry Hughes, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Tim Thomas, trade

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 12:14 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.