A closer look at what the Bulls' trade-deadline activity means
The busiest man at this year's NBA trade deadline might be Bulls equipment manager John Ligmanowski, who has to deal with six departures and five arrivals in less than 24 hours.
The Bulls made two deals Thursday morning to complement the trade with Sacramento that brought center Brad Miller and swingman John Salmons in exchange for Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin.
Larry Hughes was sent to New York for three players who won't be expected to contribute much - forward Tim Thomas, center Jerome James and guard Anthony Roberson.
The comical aspect here is that the Bulls acquired Thomas from the Knicks back in 2005 as part of the Eddy Curry trade and banished him from the team after he played in just three games.
Coach Vinny Del Negro was a Thomas teammate in Milwaukee from 1998-2000 and said he expects the 6-foot-10 underachiever to play a role here.
The often-injured James has appeared in four games the last two seasons and has a torn Achilles' tendon, so don't expect anything from him.
Thursday's second trade sent Thabo Sefolosha to Oklahoma City for a first-round draft pick belonging to either Phoenix or Denver, whichever is lower.
The Nuggets' selection would be No. 26 if the season ended today. This move frees up about $3 million in salary for next season and might increase odds that the Bulls re-sign Ben Gordon this summer.
Here's a closer examination of what all this means for the Bulls:
Do these trades improve the Bulls' chances of making the playoffs this season?
To be honest, they should have been rolling down the playoff path already. They've been playing better, the competition for the No. 8 seed (Bucks, Nets, Knicks) is underwhelming, and the Bulls have a soft closing schedule.
Don't expect the Bulls to look much different right away. The starting lineup figures to stay the same, with Salmons taking over Nocioni's sixth-man role and Miller filling in at center.
With Gooden hurt for most of the last seven weeks, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah were forced into consistent, significant minutes, and both players responded well. So there shouldn't be any reason to rush Miller into a major role.
The most significant piece is the 6-6 Salmons, who averaged 18.3 points for a bad Sacramento team this season. He could be an effective sixth man or insurance if Gordon doesn't come back.
"We did not give away a starter," general manager John Paxson said. "We added some components we think can make our team better right now and also looking toward the future for flexibility."
How much will these moves help the Bulls in the future?
The team already figured to be on the upswing, if only because Derrick Rose is bound to keep improving.
But with these trades, the Bulls clearly have high hopes for the vaunted 2010 free-agent class.
As it stands today, they have $34.83 in salary commitments for the 2010-11 season, which is well below this year's salary cap of $58.68 million.
So it's possible they could re-sign Gordon and still have enough cap room to drop, say, Toronto forward Chris Bosh onto a roster of Rose, Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Salmons and Noah.
Tyrus Thomas will be a restricted free agent in 2010, so his status would be in question. But if the Bulls need more cap room, it should be feasible to unload the final year of Salmons' deal at $5.8 million.
Also, if they'd rather not wait for free agency, the Bulls will have more than $25 million in expiring contracts next season between Miller, Tim Thomas and James.
So they'd have a chance to be players at the trade deadline once again.
Is there any chance the Bulls re-sign Gordon?
Tough to say. Losing Sefolosha's salary helps, but the Bulls are only about $8 million below the luxury-tax threshold (which might drop by next season) and will have two first-round draft picks who will add salary. Of course, they could always try to move pieces and picks.
"In our minds, we have not ruled out keeping Ben Gordon at all," Paxson said. "There may have to be another move in the summer that makes sense.
"I understand his value in what we're trying to do and his ability to score. That's important. But that's down the road. There's nothing we can do today to definitively know what may happen."
Won't the Bulls miss Nocioni and Sefolosha?
They will definitely miss Nocioni's personality and passion. The Argentina native was popular among teammates and as low-maintenance as NBA players get.
He had become more of a 3-point chucker in recent years, though, so it's possible Salmons will bring more versatility and consistency. The bottom line is the Bulls paid too much for several players from the 2006-07 team and someone had to go.
Sefolosha could do a number of things well. But it seemed pretty clear that he wasn't going to progress much beyond a decent role player and doesn't have the quickness to be a true defensive stopper.
Why, exactly, did the Bulls dismiss Tim Thomas in 2005?
The team never gave a straight answer on that one and Thomas has given a half-dozen interviews in the meantime expressing bewilderment.
The answer was obvious, though. The Bulls thought Thomas wasn't a hard worker, and they didn't want his slacker attitude rubbing off on the other players.
Outside of hitting one big shot in the playoffs for Phoenix, Thomas hasn't done anything to dispel his reputation as a gifted player who has been coasting most of his career.
Bulls vs. Denver Nuggets at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WMVP 1000-AM
Update: This is the seventh stop on an eight-game road trip for the Nuggets (37-17). So far, the only loss on the trek was by 44 points at New Jersey. Since then, Denver has beaten Miami, Orlando and Philadelphia. SF Carmelo Anthony is the top scorer at 21.9 ppg, followed by PG Chauncey Billups at 18.3. The Bulls lost at Denver 114-101 on Nov. 23, finishing the game on the short end of an 18-2 run.
Next: Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse, 11 a.m. Sunday
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