Bulls Land Miller, Salmons

The Bulls pulled off a trade yesterday, but it didn’t net Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh.  Chicago acquired center Brad Miller and swingman John Salmons from Sacramento for Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Michael Ruffin and Cedric Simmons.  While some Bulls fans were anticipating a blockbuster deal, this is still a good trade for Chicago.  Miller is a skilled big man that can score in a variety of ways.  He’ll provide the team with some inside scoring, something that they’ve lacked for a long time.  Salmons is a versatile perimeter player and should be a major part of the team coming off the bench.  He’s had his locker room issues in the past, and coming off the bench could draw the ire of the former Miami Hurricane, but if he can stay focused he’ll be a solid contributor.

A projected starting lineup for the new-look Bulls could be Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Miller, with Kirk Hinrich, Salmons and Joakim Noah coming off the bench.  This looks like a pretty solid rotation and could push the Bulls into the playoff picture.  It remains to be seen how well the new players mesh with the rest of the team, but the Bulls didn’t have to give much up in this deal, so it was definitely worth it.

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