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.

On Monday afternoon, the Chicago Bulls celebrated the giving season by hosting a holiday party for 100 local children at the Berto Center. Andres Nocioni, Michael Ruffin, and Kirk Hinrich talk about the event and what it means to the kids.

Sam Smith is back with a vengeance in his writing for Bulls.com. When Smith said that the Bulls have no right of prior approval he was telling the truth, as he starts off by dropping two rumors in his first article. It is great to have Sam Smith back writing about the Bulls, and I look forward to his writing all season long.

The first rumor is about a potential Larry Hughes trade.

That injury to Larry Hughes was unfortunate. Of course, the joke going around with the Bulls crowded backcourt is the unfortunate part is it wasn’t longer. But it may have been unfortunate for a bigger reason. I heard the Washington Wizards, with Gilbert Arenas out probably half the season, have been looking for ways to hold it together until then and have interest in Hughes. There supposedly were some talks with Etan Thomas (scheduled to start the opener as a showcase?) leaving Washington. There’ll still be $6 million for the Wizards to make up, and perhaps that would include Darius Songaila, whom the Bulls liked when they had him. I heard the Bulls had talks this summer for the Wizards’ Oleksiy Pecherov in a multi-team transition, but that faded. This one makes some sense for both teams and might be workable if Hughes can return from his shoulder injury quickly. He has his beat seasons in Washington and remains close with Arenas. The Bulls desperately need to unclog their guard logjam to give Derrick Rose more opportunities. Thomas never has worked out in Washington and rookie JaVale McGee, the Chicagoan, has been a pleasant surprise for the Wizards.

This makes a lot of sense. I found the Bulls originally cutting Michael Ruffin to be very suspicious, and had the hunch that the Bulls had agreed to a trade but it fell apart at the last minute. Something like Larry Hughes for Etan Thomas, Darius Songalia, and another player (Oleksiy Pecherov) would have required the Bulls to have 2 open roster slots, which the Bulls created when they cut Ruffin.

The second rumor is in regard to Eddy Curry.

So the Bulls need a big man in the middle, a post presence who can draw a double team and just over a season ago was averaging about 20 points per game. Well, Eddy Curry can be had. Been there, endured that. The former Bull has been banished by new coach Mike D’Antoni, and few survive those banishments. One of D’Antoni’s major issues leading to leaving the Suns was his refusal to play much more than an eight-play rotation. Once he settles, he’s pretty much done. So Curry is. Plus, D’Antoni likes Jared Jeffries, injured again, and when he returns he’ll get the D’Antoni treatment by playing inside as D’Antoni enjoys showing his critics, who say he’ll never win, they don’t know what the heck they are doing as he believes Jeffries always played out of position on the perimeter.

Curry, surprise, surprise, hasn’t been well conditioned. The story going around the league is Curry sat on a medicine ball in camp and it exploded. I’m not sure I believe that. But I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, either.

The Bulls may be able to simply do something like Larry Hughes for Eddy Curry; or Kirk Hinrich for Eddy Curry. But if the Bulls wait a little longer, they could do something like Kirk Hinrich and Drew Gooden for Eddy Curry and Chris Duhon. I like this second trade, as it gets us Duhon, who is probably better suited for a backup point guard spot than Hinrich and clears out a power forward for a center, which should open up minutes for Tyrus Thomas.

Curry does not look too out of shape. He could definitely stand to lose a few, but he is in no way grossly out of shape. There is a difference between not being in shape to run in Dantoni’s offense and not being in shape for the typical NBA offense. Curry could give us that elusive low post option that we have been missing ever since he left.

It is no longer a no brainer to trade for Curry if he is available, but it is an option that you have to strongly consider.

The Chicago Bulls sent out a press release today announcing that they have re-signed forward Michael Ruffin. Here is the press release:

October 27, 2008 – The Chicago Bulls announced today that the team has re-signed forward/center Michael Ruffin to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Ruffin (6-8, 248) was a member of Chicago’s 2008 preseason roster but missed seven games due to a left ankle sprain.

Chicago’s roster now stands at 14.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote on the Full Court Press blog today that the Bulls look poised to sign Michael Ruffin. Ruffin was at the Berto Center on Sunday but did not participate in the Bulls’ practice.

The Bulls cut Michael Ruffin along with Roger Powell on October 23rd, after Ruffin had missed the Bulls’ first seven preseason games. Today, Michael Ruffin cleared waivers today.

It is unclear why the Bulls cut Ruffin in the first place. Perhaps they had come close to making some sort of trade where they needed the extra roster spot and that fell through.

It looks like Michael Ruffin will be back in a Bulls’ uniform this season, and I am very excited for this.

The Chicago Bulls released a press release today announcing that they have released Michael Ruffin and Roger Powell.

October 23, 2008 – The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has waived forward Roger Powell and forward/center Michael Ruffin.

Powell (6-6, 225) appeared in four preseason games with the Bulls and averaged 2.8 ppg and 0.8 rpg in 4.5 mpg. He spent the 2007-08 campaign with Siviglia Wear Teramo (Italian Series A League), playing in 33 games (five starts) and averaging 13.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 1.00 spg. Powell has made multiple NBA summer league appearances: San Antonio Spurs (2008), Memphis Grizzlies (2007), Utah Jazz (2006) and the Dallas Mavericks (2005). Powell played four years for the Fighting Illini, where he finished with averages of 9.0 ppg and 3.9 rpg in 19.4 mpg.

Ruffin (6-8, 248) missed seven preseason games due to a left ankle sprain. Last season, Ruffin appeared in 46 games for the Milwaukee Bucks in his eighth season in the league and finished the season with averages of 2.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg in 13.7 mpg. He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (32nd pick overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft.

Chicago’s preseason roster now stands at 13.

This is disappointing news, I was getting so excited to watch Michael Ruffin in a Bulls jersey this season.

The Bulls roster is now cut down to only 13 players. Could a trade be on the horizon?