Bulls deal Gray to Hornets for Devin Brown

The Bulls shipped seldom-used center Aaron Gray to New Orleans for veteran guard Devin Brown on Monday.

Gray missed training camp and the first two months of the season with a stress fracture in his left fibula. Since recovering, he has appeared in just eight games and never seemed to get back into playing shape.

The 6-foot-5 Brown has played a significant role on some good teams during his eight NBA seasons and won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005. This year he was averaging 9.7 points per game and was getting consistent playing time for the Hornets, logging 30 minutes in a loss at Denver on Saturday.

Brown, 31, is considered a good defender and streaky shooter. When the Hornets lost to the Bulls at the United Center on Dec. 26, Brown hit 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range for 22 points - all in the first half. He shot 45.6 percent from 3-point range in December but dropped to 26 percent in January.

One question still to be answered is if acquiring Brown sets the stage for the Bulls to trade either John Salmons or Kirk Hinrich before the Feb. 18 trade deadline, therefore opening more cap room to spend on free agents next summer.

Brown and Gray make similar salaries, roughly $1 million.

New Orleans did shave about $100,000 off its luxury-tax bill and didn't have much height on its roster before adding Gray. The Hornets also are getting solid play from rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton and may have considered Brown expendable.