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 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.

According to Bulls.com, the Bulls have traded Aaron Gray to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Devin Brown.

January 25, 2010 — The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has acquired guard Devin Brown from the New Orleans Hornets for center Aaron Gray.

“We’re excited to add Devin Brown to our team,” said Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman. “His toughness, defensive versatility, and shooting will be excellent additions to our perimeter rotation.”

This is a solid addition for the Bulls. Brown gives the Bulls more depth and size in the back court, and it is basically a free acquisition personnel wise, as Vinny Del Negro has played Aaron Gray very little this season.

According to Shamsports.com, the Bulls will take on an additional $107,075 in salary with this trade.

I think this trade will prove to be meaningless for both teams. I think I would rather have Aaron Gray than Devin Brown though, especially with two of the Bulls big men (Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah) suffering from plantar fascitis.

Update:

Devin Brown has a trade kicker in his contract, so the Bulls will be taking on more than $107,075 in salary commitment from this trade.

According to Bulls.com, Derrick Rose will defend his Skills Challenge title that he won last year at Allstar Weekend.

Derrick Rose confirmed on Wednesday that he will take the court to defend his Taco Bell Skills Challenge title in Dallas next month during NBA All-Star weekend.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Rose from the Berto Center. “Last year, it was a great experience being there with my family. Just having the opportunity to be around the All-Stars; I can’t lie, it was fun. I appreciated that opportunity because it was so unbelievable.”

Last February, the Bulls guard became the first rookie to win the Skills Challenge when he defeated New Jersey’s Devin Harris in the championship round. Tony Parker and Mo Williams were the other participants. Past winners of the Skills Challenge include Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade (back-to-back) and Steve Nash.

Hopefully Rose puts forth more effort in this year’s contest than he did in last year’s. Winning is still impressive, but it seemed like Rose was just going through the motions last year, rather than aggressively going out there trying to win. Hopefully he brings his new aggressive passion that he has shown recently during games to the Skills Challenge, and just blows everyone out of the water, because he has the speed to do just that.

Derrick Rose has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week according to NBA.com.

The Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Dec. 28, through Jan. 3.

Rose led the Bulls in scoring in each game, averaging 26.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists, as Chicago went 3-0. On Jan. 2, Rose became the first Bulls player to post a 30-point, five-rebound, five-assist game since 2008 (Kirk Hinrich) when he amassed 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists in a 101-93 win over Orlando.

Here is a recap of each of Rose’s performances this past week:

Dec. 29 vs. Indiana: Posted 28 points, five rebounds, six assists and one block in a 104-95 win over the Pacers.

Dec. 31 @ Detroit: Scored 22 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and two blocks in a 98-87 win over the Pistons.

Jan. 2 vs. Orlando: Tallied 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists in a 101-93 win over the Magic.

As I recollect, Ben Gordon is the only other post-dynasty era Bull to receive this award. Because of this, Rose is joining some rare company, even if that’s because of the franchise’s horribleness, rather than this being any type of crowning achievement.

But still, Rose should be proud of earning this honor. His play in the last week was his best string of games in his career, and he is really turning the corner into a star type of player that can lead his team to victory. Hopefully he keeps it up.