Gooden to start, but will Hughes?
New Bulls Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes eased themselves in Friday evening, genially holding court with the media before their new team's game with the Nuggets.
While the erstwhile Cleveland Cavaliers both awaited clearance to suit up, all they could do was surmise what their respective roles may be after coming to Chicago in Thursday's deadline blockbuster deal that sent Ben Wallace, Joe Smith to Cleveland and Adrian Griffin to Seattle.
A figurative bull in a china shop, Gooden knows he's around to provide some inside punch, and he's already slotted as the starting power forward. Hughes' role, like his jumper at times, is still uncertain.
"I plan to start," said Hughes, who started in 32 of the 40 games he played in with Cleveland. "I've been comfortable in a starting role for some time now. I like to be out there in the court."
Be that as it may, Bulls coach Jim Boylan would only say Hughes will be in the backcourt mix with Ben Gordon (who scored 37 Friday night in the Bulls' 135-121 win), Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefolosha. It would make sense to start the 6-foot-5 Hughes alongside Hinrich, but minutes, and shots, will still have to be divvied up.
"We've got a crowd in the backcourt, there's no way of getting around that," Boylan said. "So it's going to be competition. Sometimes that's a good thing."
On the fly: Jim Boylan said Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes probably wouldn't be able to practice today, because all 11 players in the three-team deal have to clear a physical and fill out appropriate paperwork, but they still could make their debuts Sunday in Houston. The Bulls play at Dallas on Monday and at Indiana on Wednesday.
"We don't get a lot of time out on the court together," Boylan said. "We'll have to do it on the fly."
Both players have experience at moving around. Gooden, 26, is on his fourth team, and Hughes, 29 and now the oldest Bull, his fifth.
"I just think at the end of the day, it's about competing," Gooden said. "If we could help out in that way, me and Larry, we know it's a young team -- if we show them how to compete, that'll help a lot."
Cavaliers no more: Drew Gooden said it was "bittersweet" to leave Cleveland after going to the NBA Finals last year.
"They said they needed a change; so be it," said Gooden, still sporting a bushy thicket of a beard to go with his bald head. "If this was the best change for the Cavaliers, we'll see what happens. They gave up some talent and they received some talent. We'll see what happens in the long run."
Hughes was less reticent, sounding like he was glad to be away from the Cavs.
In his 11th season out of St. Louis, Hughes is a career 15-point scorer but is at just 12.3 ppg this season, his lowest average since 2001-02.
"I was happy," he said, when he found out about the trade. It was no secret that my style of play didn't really fit the system in which (they) were playing in. I felt I could be more productive.
"There wasn't as much ball movement, as much player movement as I was used to. There was a lot of space the court and pretty much wait. That's just not how I like to play basketball."
Hughes is shooting a career-low 37.7 percent (his career average is 41 percent) and one aggravated fan even created the Web site "heylarryhughesquittakingsomanybadshots.com." As of Friday, the site's future, like Hughes' jump shots, was still up in the air.