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

With the Bulls down three, Luol Deng bricked a three point shot from the top of the key, giving the Bulls their third loss in a row, as they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 96-93.

The Bulls, who were down 17 points at one point in the first half, made it a two point game when Brad Miller stroked a three pointer to make it a 93-91 game. The Bulls would then come up with the stop, but Derrick Rose was called for a charge, giving Milwaukee the ball back. The Bulls forced Charlie Bell to miss, but no one put a body on Hakim Warrick, and he slammed it home to give the Bucks a 95-91 lead.

The Bulls quickly called a timeout and advanced the ball past half court. The Bulls found Rose on a curl, and the Bucks gave Rose an easy layup, making it a 95-93 game. It seems like a pretty dumb decision for the Bucks to just give Rose the layup like this. If they had played tough defense on Rose, they could have easily forced him to pass it or forced him into a bad shot. If the Bulls had missed there without a quick putback, the game would have been pretty much over, and by allowing Rose to make this shot so fast, they gave the Bulls a chance to tie, as Michael Redd split a pair of free throws to make it a 96-93 game with 8 seconds left.

On the final play, John Salmons got the ball. He opened up a clear shooting path after getting his man on the pump fake, but opted to pass the ball to Luol Deng, who bricked the potential game tying three.

This was pretty much a mirror image of what happened last game against the Charlotte Bobcats. John Salmons had the ball in pretty much the same spot, and decided to pass the ball to Derrick Rose when he was in the air. Rose of course bricked the shot and the Bulls lost the game. In both instances, Salmons opted to pass the ball to guys who are known not to take three point shots.

It is these situations where the Bulls are down three and need to tie the game where they really, really miss Ben Gordon. Derrick Rose who is the one guy who has an ability like Gordon to create his own shot, and Rose can’t make three point shots. Luol Deng, who moves well off the ball to get open for shots, also is not known to make three point shots. Kirk Hinrich has difficulty creating his own shot, and is terrible when contested on a shot, and he is also terrible in the clutch, even when he is wide open.

So that leaves the Bulls to go to John Salmons in these type of situations, and Salmons lacks that killers edge that Ben Gordon possessed. Ben would just go up for the shot confidently, he knew it was going in. Salmons appears unconfident in these situations, hesitating on his shots, and passing the ball out to teammates after pump faking or while in the middle of his shot. The Bulls are better off with Salmons just jacking up a shot in these situations than passing it out to teammates.

In the future, when the Bulls are down three, Vinny should probably go with a lineup of Jannero Pargo, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, Luol Deng, and Brad Miller, with Brad Miller popping out to the three point line as the first option, and Jannero Pargo as the second option, as at least these two guys will just go up and shoot the ball confidently.

One of the main proponents in the Bucks win was Andrew Bogut, who played great in the first half, as well as in the stretch run of the game. Andrew Bogut finished with an impressive 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Bogut did most of his damage against Joakim Noah, who was just too weak to guard Bogut, as Noah ceded ground too easily whenever Bogut backed him down in the post.

Michael Redd was also big for the Bucks, finishing with 24 points on 8-16 shooting and 8 rebounds. Redd really came alive in the second half, hitting big shots to keep the Bucks in the game.

Derrick Rose led the Bulls in scoring with 25 points, but he did it inefficiently, taking 25 shots to score those 25 points. The Bucks did a good job of keeping Rose away from the basket. When Rose did get near the basket, the Bucks were set for charges (a trademark of a Scott Skiles’ defense) and Bogut blocked many of Rose’s shots. Rose also had 9 assists and 5 rebounds in the game.

Outside of his defense on Andrew Bogut, Joakim Noah was solid, finishing with 10 points and 18 rebounds.

Luol Deng finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich finished with 12 points and 6 assists.

Off the bench, Brad Miller scored 11 points and John Salmons had 10 points.

For the Bucks, Ersan Ilyasova had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Hakim Warrick had 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Luke Ridnour had 10 points.

Brandon Jennings struggled tonight scoring only 5 points on 1-9 shooting. Jennings also had 8 assists and 3 blocks, including a nice block on a driving Derrick Rose.

There was a little scuffle in the second half which started with Kirk Hinrich and Luke Ridnour being called for a double foul. Ridnour then tried to get away with a push on Hinrich, but was called for the offensive foul. Ridnour then picked up his third foul in 11 seconds on a Hinrich drive. After the foul, Hinrich pushed Hakim Warrick, which prompted Andrew Bogut to come over and get entangled with Kirk Hinrich. The fight didn’t escalate past that point.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 14-10 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