The Bulls were one of the busiest teams before the trade deadline yesterday, making three tradesk shipping out six players, and bringing back five.  Now tha the dust has settled, how do the Bulls stack up after the deadline, and what direction will they be taking the team?

Subtractions

• Andres Nocioni
• Drew Gooden
• Cedric Simmons
• Michael Ruffin
• Larry Hughes
• Thabo Sefolosha

Additions

• Brad Miller
• John Salmons
• Anthony Roberson
• Jerome James
• Tim Thomas
• 2009 San Antonio Spurs First Round Draft Pick

Starting by looking at the subtractions, the Bulls lost nothing of much significance.  Andres Nocioni was once an important cog in the Scott Skiles’ Bulls, but has really developed into a no defense chucker in the past two years.  Drew Gooden, while he could score from time to time, he was inconsistent, and not a very efficient scorer as a whole, and had weak interior defense.  Larry Hughes was no longer player, and said by some in the media to be a troublemaker.  Removing these three from the team could prove to be addition by subtraction.

Thabo Sefolosha was good sometimes, and played some good defense from time to time in his time here.  With the addition of John Salmons, he simply wasn’t going to play here.  A first round draft pick was good compensation for him.

Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin never played, so not much of a loss their on the basketball court.  Ruffin was one of the most active Bulls in the community season, and Simmons was very active as well, so I’m sure the Bulls will miss that aspect of having these two around, as both did a lot for the Bulls in terms of fan outreach.

Now, for the additions.  Jerome James and Anthony Roberson figure to never play in games for the Chicago Bulls, but Brad Miller, John Salmons, and Tim Thomas figure to play here.

Brad Miller is the new Antonio Davis.  That’s the way to look at this. He is the veteran big man who knows how to get things done in the NBA.  He can pass and shoot the midrange jumper, which will be big in the Bulls offense.  The Bulls also look to get a lot of leadership out of Miller. He will be a good guy to have around the team.

John Salmons is the second guy from the Kings that the Bulls acquired.  One thing to note, do not read too much into what Paxson said at the press conference yesterday.  Salmons is not the newly annointed great shooting guard of the Bulls.  Think back to the 2006 draft, and the press conference that followed it.  Paxson raved on and on about Viktor Khryapa.  The guy hardly played for us, and ended up being bought out.

This is not to say that John Salmons will not play.  He definitely will, and will be a rotation player.  He has a lot of talent, and I think starting next year, will be that elusive big guard, that backs up both Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon.  The bonus with John Salmons is that he can play at the small forward position as well, without the Bulls being undersized.  As long as the Bulls have four guards for these last 28 games of this year, Salmons role will probably be stunted.  But next year, if the Bulls trade Kirk Hinrich, which they nearly did at the deadline, then John Salmons will find himself in a big minute sixth man role.

Salmons isn’t quite as good as Paxson advertised.  Paxson was raving about his defense.  Just because Salmons is tall, doesn’t mean that he is a good defender.  On the season, Salmons has a D-Rtg of 116 and 0.0 defensive win shares, which makes him one of the worst defenders in the entire NBA.

You have to wonder how a guy like Salmons will hold up offensively when he joins a team like the Bulls, and is actually asked to exert some type of effort on defense.  With Salmons actually having to play defense, will we see his scoring efficiency fall?  Only time will tell.

Offensively, Salmons is pretty good.  He is averaging 18.3 PPG on 57.3 TS%, which makes him a really good scorer this year.  The one thing the Bulls needed was more efficient scorers, as they don’t have many guys that can score efficiently.  Salmons brings that component to the Bulls, joining Gordon as a player who has a TS% greater than 57%.  Salmons is shooting 41.8% from three point land.  Shooters are always welcome.

The big question is whether Salmons is just a one year wonder or not.  Prior to this season, the most Salmons has scored was 12.5 PPG in a season.  Outside of this year, Salmons hasn’t been a very good three point shooter.  Players as old as Salmons typically don’t make the kind of leap he has made this year.  This is eerily similar to the situation with Mike James in Toronto, an older player explodes for a big year on one of the worst teams in the league.

Does this mean John Salmons is a scrub in disguise?  No.  But he is not starter material, given his near league worst defense, and the fact that he has a better scorer and defender ahead of him in the lineup in Ben Gordon.  Salmons could make a good sixth man for the Bulls over the next few years, but anything more is just overreaching with him.

Tim Thomas is a decent acquisition.  He will be able to spread the floor with his jumpshot similar to what Nocioni did during his time here.  Thomas will do this in limited minutes at the power forward position.

What did these trades do for the Bulls in terms of building for the future?  It was simply asset building.

In terms of liquid assets going into next year, the Bulls have Brad Miller’s expiring contract, Jerome James’ expiring contract, Tim Thomas’ expiring contract, young prospects Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, the rights to Omer Asik, their own 2009 draft pick, and the 2009 draft pick of the San Antonio Spurs.

In addition to those, the Bulls also have Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons, who some teams are sure to be interested in.

The Bulls now are loaded with tradeable assets.  Paxson is ready to swing a blockbuster trade.  It is just a matter of waiting for the time to come.  It could happen at the 2009 NBA draft, or prior to the 2010 trade deadline.

The small flaw with this plan is that it depends on the actions of other teams in the league.  But I feel this is a brilliant plan.  When Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, and others start becoming available on the trade market, Paxson is ready to make a deal.

That was kind of the plan going into this trade deadline.  The Bulls tried to get Amare Stoudemire for the expiring contract of Drew Gooden and some young prospects.  It didn’t work out, but Paxson has reloaded the Bulls with expiring contracts to give it another go next year.

Following this trade deadline, the Bulls future looks much brighter to me.  A key to all of this, is for the Bulls to re-sign Ben Gordon.  He is their best scorer, and will be crucial in this team becoming great.  Yes, Gordon isn’t good enough to lead a team by himself.  But as one of the best three pointers in the game, the fourth best fastbreak scorer in the NBA this season, and a tradtionally clutch scorer, he is exactly what you want out of one of the complementry players around Derrick Rose. As long as the Bulls re-sign Ben Gordon, they will be in a position to become a championship caliber team with one, big blockbuster trade at the deadline next year.

The Chicago Bulls agreed to a trade with the Sacramento Kings that will send Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons, and Michael Ruffin to Sacramento in exchange for Brad Miller and John Salmons.

John Salmons is the newest Chicago Bull. (photo by Arranging Matches on flickr)

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Kings are expected to deal Ruffin to the Blazers in exchange for Ike Diogu.

On the surface, the deal puts away any chance of a two way deal between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns for Amare Stoudemire. Now in order to get Amare Stoudemire, the Bulls would have to get a third team involved, potentially the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Bulls still may deal with the Timberwolves, even if it isn’t in a three way, but rather a trade that would send Kirk Hinrich to the Timberwolves for Jason Collins and an unknown piece.

I would say to expect Hinrich to be traded. The Bulls no longer have the “insurance for in case Ben leaves” excuse, as John Salmons is their new piece of insurance. I don’t think Hinrich will be on the team after tomorrow, but I could be wrong. Bulls management has had difficulty letting him go up to this point.

If the Bulls are to complete the rumored Kirk Hinrich trade, it would show that the Bulls are serious about making a run in 2010 that involves Ben Gordon. The Bulls could even preempt 2010 at the trade deadline next year, with the massive expiring contracts of Brad Miller and Larry Hughes, if he isn’t moved in the next 21 hours.

The Bulls committed to Gordon as the starting shooting guard, even when Kirk Hinrich came back, so it’s hard to see John Salmons taking over that role. John Salmons will presumably take the sixth man role. I would expect Brad Miller to take over the starting center position once he gets some practice time in with the team.

It is good to see the Bulls finally get rid of Andres Nocioni.  I loved him his first two seasons in the league, and he really was up there with Gordon and Hinrich as the most important players on the team in that 2005-2006 season.  But he has really deteriorated to an on court cancer, and it will be nice to see him go.  Drew Gooden wasn’t a very efficient offensive player and a poor defender, which made him a poor overall big man, so I don’t think the Bulls will miss him at all, especially with Brad Miller replacing him.

So are the Bulls preparing to make a splash in 2010 free agency? This move and the potential Kirk Hinrich trade are a strong indication that they plan on doing so.

The Amare Stoudemire trade talks could finally come to an end on Monday. In his Washington Post article today, Michael Wilbon mentioned that Amare Stoudemire probably would be traded on Monday. It seems like the question of “Whether Stoudemire will be traded or not?” has been answered. But one question remains, to who?

A report form the Sacramento Bee from earlier in the day suggested that the Bulls and Cavaliers were the two teams still in the running. But a report from Ken Berger of CBS Sports says that the Cavaliers never had serious talks with the Suns and are now pursuing Marcus Camby.

This corroborates with the reputable Cavaliers poster, Wine and Gold, who sent Cavs Nation in a frenzy when they overreacted to one of his posts last night and thought it meant that they had landed Amare. Today, he took a more sobering view, trying to lower the expectations of Cavs fans.

Amare Stoudemire going to the Cavaliers never made much sense. The package they were offering did less to help the Suns shed salary this year than the proposed Bulls package, and the young player in that deal has much lower potential than Tyrus Thomas. The proposed Bulls deal at least gives the Suns a player who they can be hopeful about. I don’t think any sane NBA fan thinks that Hickson has any type of serious potential like Tyrus Thomas does.

So with the Cavaliers being out of the running, that means that Amare Stoudemire is coming to the Bulls. Right? Not quite, according to Arizona Central, the Blazers might be in it again. This time for a package of Raef Lafrentz, Jerryd Bayless, and a first round pick.

I just can’t see this package going through. For starters, a potential Bulls trade of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Cedric Simmons for Amare Stoudemire, Louis Amundson, and Matt Barnes does more to save Phoenix money this year than Portland’s package of Raef Lafrentz and Jerryd Bayless for the same Phoenix package. The Bulls package would save Phoenix $4.022 million this year (in cap, not actual money), getting Phoenix down to $71.74 million in salary. The Portland trade would only save the Suns $1.949 million. It is pretty much impossible to find a workable scenario where a Portland trade based around a package of Lafrentz and Bayless can shed more money on the Suns cap than a Bulls trade based around Gooden, Thomas, and Simmons.

The Blazers deal may be able to save the Suns a little more money if this was the only trade they were to make. But with the Bulls trade, the Suns would just have to do a small trade to slide under the luxury tax threshold of $71.15 million. If the Suns can get under the luxury tax threshold, not only do they no longer pay the tax, but they will get some money in luxury tax revenues. So the Bulls package can do more for the Suns in terms of getting the Suns under the luxury tax than the Blazers can, which presents the best money saving option for the Suns.

It is also unlikely for this package to go through because it would set up Portland to compete for championships for near a decade. The Blazers may be able to contend with just what they have right now. Adding Amare to the mix would surely make them championship contenders, but not only that, powerful championship contenders. Yes, the Suns are rebuilding, but you have to believe they have enough foresight to see that putting together Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Amare Stoudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden will keep them out of the finals for many years.

I do think however, that the Suns and Blazers could be talking trades. Perhaps the Blazers could facilitate an Amare trade between the Bulls and Suns. NewsOK, mentioned Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng as potential Blazers. Or maybe the reports are what they appear on the surface and the Blazers are pursuing Stoudemire hard. I just don’t see them being the team that gets Stoudemire, especially for the rumored package. I don’t think Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver want to hear about how they were Pritchslapped for the next few years.

Oklahoma City has also sprung up as a potential destination for Amare Stoudemire. What they would trade has yet to be determined.

I actually think Oklahoma City can put together the best package. They have the best young talent to trade away in Jeff Green and five first round draft picks in the next two years. A deal based around Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, and Saer Sene would do more to shed money from Phoenix’s salary numbers this year than the Chicago or Phoenix packages. But they are not really being treated as serious contenders by the media, just as a team that will end up as an also ran. Pairing Kevin Durant with Amare Stoudemire is something the Suns probably aren’t too interested in doing, since the Thunder are in the same conference as them.

There is a little bit of inside info regarding the Bulls in this trade. InsideInfo of the RealGM forums, who is a legitimate insider, says that Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons, and Thabo Sefolosha all would welcome trades, but Drew Gooden is reluctant to be traded.

Chris Ballard in his SI.com column made it seem as though the Chicago beatwriters are confident that an Amare trade will be done. According to John Hollinger, the Bulls package of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Thabo Sefolosha, and Cedric Simmons is the leader in the Suns’ clubhouse as we approach the trade deadline.

So do today’s rumors make it seem as if Amare to the Bulls is more likely to get done? Not really. But they do seem to indicate that an Amare trade is imminent. And if Wilbon is correct, it might just be done by Monday. We can only hope that it will be to the Bulls.

Another day, more Amare Stoudemire rumors. Once again, it is time to break through some of the rumors regarding Amare Stoudemire.

The day started out with the Miami Heat trading Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Toronto for Jermaine O’neal, effectively taking Miami out of the Amare Stoudemire sweepstakes.

The most interesting set of rumors are two rumors from message board posters claiming to have inside information. One says that a trade of Stoudemire to the Bulls is a done deal and the other says a trade to the Cavs is a done deal.

It isn’t too hard to believe that a deal may be for sure being completed and that it’s to one of these two teams. Ric Bucher, on ESPN, stated that he thinks a deal will be completed and that the Bulls and Cavs are front runners. Will Purdue appeared on the radio today and said that Amare will be traded and that the Bulls, Cavs, and Kings are the front runners. This should be able to be narrowed down to the Bulls and Cavs as Amare would probably raise a stink if he was traded to the lowly Kings, who currently possess the worst record in the NBA.

It also isn’t hard to believe that a trade has already been completed, as there is a rumor out there that says that many believe that the Suns have a handshake deal in place, and are just waiting until after the Allstar break to announce it. This would support Frank Isola’s assertion that the Bulls and Suns have already agreed on an Amare trade.

The first of these rumors comes from Black Jesus of the RealGM forums, who states that the Bulls and Suns have agreed on a trade. Is he legitimate? No one knows, and no one may ever know. Here’s the problem with this guy, he refuses to give any transparency of his sources, even under the protection that the moderators offer. That’s a big red flag.

I could sit here on my blog and write an article about how the Bulls and Suns have agreed on a trade for Amare Stoudemire. There is a good chance that what I write in that article would end up being true. I could probably expand and even include the players, saying the trade would be Amare Stoudemire, Louis Amundson, and Matt Barnes for Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons, and Thabo Sefolosha. There is a good chance I could be right.

The NBA is entirely predictable. Through immense observation and an understanding of the workings of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary cap, you can make some very accurate educated guesses of what will happen in the NBA. This Amare Stoudemire scenario could be seen from a mile away. In September, I made a post on the Sportstwo Forums about how the Phoenix Suns are the team to watch, because if they falter they are going to be in a position to lose Stoudemire in 2010, forcing them to trade him. I then hypothesized that Kerr would cut a sweetheart deal for his old team, gaining a package of Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, and Joakim Noah or Thabo Sefolosha. The package might be off, but the idea of Amare to the Bulls was entirely foreseeable.

And this is why even if the Amare Stoudemire trade to the Bulls comes true, Black Jesus should be taken with a grain of salt. Just because he ends up being correct doesn’t mean he actually has any inside sources.

The second rumor, originating from Cavs message boards, says that Amare Stoudemire for Wally Szcerbiak and J.J. Hickson plus a first round pick is a done deal. Here is the main problem with this scenario, it does little more to help the Suns financially this year than the Bulls deal, and leaves the Suns with no good NBA prospects.

With the proposed Cavs deal, the Suns would have $14.329 million incoming. The proposed Bulls deal, including both Sefolosha and Simmons would have $14.522 million incoming, less than $200,000 more than the proposed Cavs deal. If the Bulls leave Sefolosha out of the deal, the Bulls save the Suns more money this year, and leave only Thomas’ contract on the Suns’ books past this season.

A mistake was made in reading this trade process that the bigger the expiring contract the better. This is true if the trade were expanded to have that team taking back the bad contracts of Jason Richardson or Shaquille O’neal. But if Amare Stoudemire is the only large piece the Suns are moving in the trade, using smaller contracts while invoking the 125% trade rule and minimum player trade exceptions to get the trade through would be the best in terms of saving Phoenix money.

The Cleveland trade seems unlikely to me. I don’t think Phoenix wants to be known as the team that handed the Cavaliers six straight NBA championships. The Cavaliers deal leaves nothing for the Suns to sell to their fans. At least with the Bulls variation, they can sell Tyrus Thomas as a high potential player.

The most telling sign that the Bulls are the favorites to land Stoudemire is the confidence that some beat writers are displaing in regards to the Bulls chances. On the Score this morning, Brian Hanley predicted that Amare Stoudemire would become a Bull and that Jermaine O’neal would become a member of the Miami Heat. A little later in the day, O’neal was traded to the Heat.

I would have to imagine that the Bulls are the front runners to get Amare Stoudemire still, but some Cleveland Cavaliers message boards are celebrating because they believe that they have already agreed to a trade for Amare Stoudemire. The Cavs simply shouldn’t have the pieces to acquire Stoudemire, especially for the rumored package.

I think it is entirely possible that the Cavaliers and Suns have agreed on a trade, for Shaquille O’neal that is. The assets that the Cavs have available to trade are more in line for a player of the caliber of Shaq, not Amare.

That package of Wally Sczerbiak and JJ Hickson just shouldn’t be enough to get Amare Stoudemire. If it is, something shady would have to be going on. That is just an insanely lopsided trade. Memphis at least got Marc Gasol in their trade. I just don’t see any way that the Cleveland rumors can end up being true. They just don’t make a lot of sense. But on the small chance that the Cleveland rumors do end up coming to fruition, all fans of the NBA best prepare to see Lebron and company raising the championship banner year after year. A Lebron James and Amare Stoudemire duo would be dominant and would win the championship annually. Good thing that pairing is unlikely, as per a Yahoo! Sports report, Steve Kerr is not enthusiastic about that package.

The Chicago Bulls started 2009 just where they left off in 2008, getting blown out. The Bulls got humiliated in Cleveland tonight 117 to 92.

For the second straight game, Vinny Del Negro quit. This is the third time this season where Vinny clearly quit on a game, the man is simply a quitter. The Bulls were down 15 with almost an entire quarter left in the game, yet Vinny never brought Rose and Gordon back in the fourth, allowing Cleveland to rebuild their lead.

There is not much to analyze about the Bulls humiliating losses these days. The Bulls are simply playing glorified Boylan-ball. It is only glorified, because Vinny is playing Ben Gordon more than Boylan did and because the Bulls now have Derrick Rose. The Bulls have no noticeable offensive sets and the team doesn’t even pretend to try on the defensive end of the court. Someone should really teach Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah about the concept of help defense, because both seem to think that you aren’t allowed to help out when an opposing guard dribbles to the basket.

It is clear what the Bulls have to do, replace Vinny Del Negro. We gave him a try. Perhaps his ideas really were great, but that doesn’t chance the fact that he had no coaching experience, and obviously could not implement anything. And on the small chance that the players are actually running his offensive and defensive sets, then Vinny is a terrible basketball mind. Regardless, the result has been horrific, and Vinny has earned his dismissal.

Derrick Rose finished tonights game with only 3 points and 2 assists. Rose simply didn’t care when he was in the game. He accepted defeat. This is unacceptable. Our head coach has made this team so bad, that our never give up point guard is accepting defeat. The coach needs to go.

Ben Gordon is the lone bright spot for the Bulls tonight, finishing with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal. He is simply a great scorer, and can score in the face of adversity. Gordon showed a certain look of disgust on his face often tonight. That is the look of other players not passing him the ball when he is sitting there wide open waving his arms yelling for the ball. On one of these plays Thomas dribbled the ball down the court ignoring Gordon on three separate occasions. Sefolosha and Noah also went in against heavy defensive coverage either to be stripped or put up a bad shot. Apparently no one taught our players that you can pass out of the paint to the perimeter in a drive and kick or post up. The coach needs to go.

Our big men again did not produce offensively or defensively. They were easily scored on by the Cleveland bigs and did not offer any resistance to the penetration by Cleveland’s guards. Anderson Varejao had 26 points, Ben Wallace 13, and J.J. Hickson had 13 points. A bunch of Cleveland players had their season highs tonight. The Bulls big men have no idea how to defend either big men or penetrating perimeter players. The coach needs to go.

Lebron James had a triple double for Cleveland, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He easily picked apart the Bulls.

Lindsey Hunter added in 13 points for the Bulls and Andres Nocioni had 11 points.

Delonte West gave the Cavs 14 points, Sasha Pavlovic added in 13, and Mo Williams had 11.

Cedric Simmons had 9 points and 4 rebounds. He has done something our other bigs haven’t been able to do, and that is catch and dunk the ball.

Zydranus Ilgauskus did not play tonight.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 14-19 on the season.

The Chicago Bulls and DCFS hosted their annual holiday party for intact families. Watch as Ben Gordon, Cedric Simmons, and Andres Nocioni get in on the festivities.

According to ontheinside2 on the Oregon Live Forums (a massive Blazers forum that is part of an Oregon newspaper’s website), the Bulls are discussing a trade that will send Kirk Hinrich and Cedric Simmons to the Portland Trail Blazers for Raef Lafrentz and Sergio Rodriguez.

ontheinside2, according to Blazer fans, is a reputable source who has broken news in the past, such as the Zach Randolph trade.

This trade is valid under the CBA. This trade would make a lot of sense form the Bulls side. Raef Lafrentz is a big expiring contract. By trading Hinrich for Lafrentz, Paxson will be doing two things: 1. Sending a message to Ben Gordon that he is their preferred second guard to Rose and 2. We are commencing with the 2010 plan.

One problem that remains with this trade is that the Bulls take on $1.854 million in extra salary in the trade. This trade is actually detrimental to getting back under the luxury tax threshold. But if the Bulls are hellbent on getting under the luxury tax threshold, they can simply trade Tyrus Thomas out for a 2nd round pick swap option or something like that.

The Bulls also cut Demetris Nichols earlier today, which might have something to do with getting our salary down closer to the luxury tax threshold.

This will be a great trade for the Bulls as it sets into two motions two things. Ben Gordon being here long term and the Bulls making a run at another star in 2010 to add to the Rose, Gordon, Deng core.

Here is a link to the original O-Live forum post.

Lafrentz Salary Update

In 31 more games, 80% of Lafrentz’s salary becomes covered under insurance, so the Bulls will make up all of their luxury tax losses through those savings if they make this trade.