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.

1. Boston Celtics - 97.09110809
2. Los Angeles Lakers - 96.23695606
3. Cleveland Cavaliers - 95.96925995
4. Dallas Mavericks - 93.29128104
5. Orlando Magic - 92.74592282
6. Atlanta Hawks - 90.6801248
7. San Antonio Spurs - 89.85378126
8. Portland Trail Blazers - 89.11698158
9. Phoenix Suns - 88.8448073
10. Denver Nuggets - 88.78509466
11. Oklahoma City Thunder - 88.19723688
12. Miami Heat - 86.64786563
13. Houston Rockets - 86.54235316
14. Utah Jazz - 85.72642726
15. Memphis Grizzlies - 82.68375435
16. Toronto Raptors - 82.65221533
17. New Orleans Hornets - 81.58930876
18. Los Angeles Clippers - 81.48618476
19. Milwaukee Bucks - 80.87913298
20. New York Knicks - 80.733524
21. Charlotte Bobcats - 79.74848855
22. Sacramento Kings - 78.14215859
23. Chicago Bulls - 77.67040777
24. Washington Wizards - 77.62351403
25. Philadelphia 76ers - 76.79352679
26. Golden State Warriors - 74.71841182
27. Detroit Pistons - 74.05881037
28. Indiana Pacers - 73.71263082
29. Minnesota Timberwolves - 70.07581229
30. New Jersey Nets - 64.57433245

The Charlotte Bobcats defeated the Chicago Bulls 113-108 in Charlotte tonight, because of the Bulls’ inability to make shots in the clutch.

The biggest culprit of anti-clutchness was probably Kirk Hinrich, who missed a wide open three that would have put the Bulls up 108-107, and followed that up by missing an open midrange jumper with 25.9 seconds left, which would have tied the game at 107.

The Bulls were forced to foul after the Hinrich miss, and Raymond Felton made two free throws to put the Bobcats up 109-105. But John Salmons came back the other way, converting on an and one to make it a one point game. The Bulls were forced to foul, and the Bobcats converted both free throws, going up three.

The Bulls gave the ball to John Salmons to hoist up the potential game tying shot. Salmons slowly dribbled across the top of the key, deciding to hoist a jumper. In mid jump, Salmons realized he was taking a ridiculously stupid shot, and made a bailout pass to Derrick Rose, who bricked a wide open three. But the Bulls got another chance, as Kirk Hinrich tipped the ball out to Salmons, who also missed a three, guaranteeing the Bulls their second straight loss.

The Bulls problem in this game was their complete inability to shutdown the Bobcats four main perimeter players. Gerald Wallace did the most damage, scoring a season high 32 points on 76.8 TS%. Flip Murray came in and did major damage off the bench, scoring 25 points on 82.9 TS%.

Stephen Jackson had 25 points, experiencing a lot of success posting up Kirk Hinrich. Raymond Felton had 15 points and 6 assists.

For the Bulls, Derrick Rose led the Bulls back into the game down the stretch. Rose finished with an efficient 24 points and 9 assists. Turnovers plagued Rose once again, as he committed 7, but his positives far outweighed that negative tonight.

John Salmons gave the Bulls a big lift off the bench, scoring 19 points on 7-12 shooting. Luol Deng scored 18 points, but he took 17 shots to do it.

Kirk Hinrich shot poorly, scoring 12 points on 4-13 shooting, including his two big clutch misses.

Joakim Noah finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

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

1. Los Angeles Lakers - 97.31343181
2. Boston Celtics - 96.70934681
3. Cleveland Cavaliers - 96.00231091
4. Orlando Magic - 93.80917918
5. Dallas Mavericks - 93.44483347
6. Atlanta Hawks - 91.17138088
7. San Antonio Spurs - 90.10669577
8. Portland Trail Blazers - 89.19846473
9. Denver Nuggets - 88.63571121
10. Phoenix Suns - 87.31533131
11. Houston Rockets - 86.72524182
12. Oklahoma City Thunder - 86.47244937
13. Miami Heat - 84.70969601
14. Utah Jazz - 84.48189577
15. Memphis Grizzlies - 81.98791773
16. Toronto Raptors - 79.5810086
17. Los Angeles Clippers - 79.56145316
18. New York Knicks - 79.29919319
19. Milwaukee Bucks - 78.23391633
20. New Orleans Hornets - 78.11032041
21. Sacramento Kings - 77.77323118
22. Chicago Bulls - 77.74640951
23. Charlotte Bobcats - 77.46536279
24. Washington Wizards - 75.92258969
25. Detroit Pistons - 74.77870483
26. Philadelphia 76ers- 74.35075076
27. Indiana Pacers - 73.9924849
28. Golden State Warriors - 72.68995327
29. Minnesota Timberwolves - 69.33966297
30. New Jersey Nets - 64.83572184

1. Boston Celtics - 98.61599297
2. Los Angeles Lakers - 94.32885139
3. Orlando Magic - 92.64145695
4. Atlanta Hawks - 92.12477223
5. Dallas Mavericks - 91.43577365
6. Denver Nuggets - 90.189023
7. Cleveland Cavaliers - 90.027552
8. Phoenix Suns - 87.2460405
9. Houston Rockets - 86.96593225
10. Oklahoma City Thunder - 86.45765016
11. Portland Trail Blazers - 85.05060155
12. Utah Jazz- 84.12495838
13. Miami Heat - 83.56653612
14. San Antonio Spurs - 81.57006081
15. Milwaukee Bucks - 79.66665728
16. Detroit Pistons - 79.1607668
17. Los Angeles Clippers - 78.59712519
18. Sacramento Kings - 76.8116151
19. New Orleans Hornets - 76.50493999
20. Indiana Pacers - 76.35917675
21. New York Knicks - 76.22681851
22. Memphis Grizzlies - 75.92817743
23. Toronto Raptors - 75.74750039
24. Charlotte Bobcats - 75.70946478
25. Washington Wizards - 75.05702002
26. Golden State Warriors - 73.20632655
27. Chicago Bulls - 72.65158055
28. Philadelphia 76ers - 70.04531128
29. Minnesota Timberwolves - 65.10387236
30. New Jersey Nets - 64.43645582

1. Boston Celtics - 97.41670302
2. Los Angeles Lakers - 95.79455195
3. Orlando Magic - 95.35119103
4. Denver Nuggets - 91.99905467
5. Cleveland Cavaliers - 91.87213907
6. Phoenix Suns - 90.81430009
7. Atlanta Hawks - 90.04026662
8. Dallas Mavericks - 89.92322872
9. Portland Trail Blazers - 87.67986983
10. Houston Rockets - 84.91429101
11. Oklahoma City Thunder - 84.3083509
12. Utah Jazz - 83.88613924
13. Miami Heat - 82.76348402
14. San Antonio Spurs - 80.79083727
15. Milwaukee Bucks - 79.58332963
16. Los Angeles Clippers - 79.02214963
17. Sacramento Kings - 77.96059083
18. Washington Wizards - 76.47618869
19. Toronto Raptors - 76.27227912
20. Charlotte Bobcats - 76.06008517
21. Memphis Grizzlies - 75.38169896
22. Detroit Pistons - 74.984861
23. New Orleans Hornets - 74.52658819
24. Indiana Pacers - 73.81922759
25. Chicago Bulls - 73.56375608
26. Golden State Warriors - 72.95615238
27. New York Knicks - 72.21380956
28. Philadelphia 76ers - 70.67590259
29. Minnesota Timberwolves - 65.70763399
30. New Jersey Nets - 62.64741569