Breaking down the Bulls big trade

Olsen put up a pretty sweet post over at Top Ten on the big trade so go check that out.

The second biggest trade in NBA history went down yesterday, and wouldn’t you know it, John Paxson put the Bulls right in the middle of it. Something tells me all the pressure from the media and, uh, blogs had a lot to do in persuading Pax to make any sort of trade and he finally did it.

Now we have to look at what we have here and whether or not Jim Boylan can make it all work. It’s going to tough to make all these new pieces fit with only 30ish games left, but I think it’s safe to say the Bulls are better today then they were two days ago.

Is this trade a slam dunk? Not really, it may just be trading crap for crap, but it has some decent upside for the Bulls.

Wallace had to be traded and him just being gone makes the team better. Tyrus, Noah, and Gray all get more minutes now, and with the way Wallace was playing, it will most likely be an immediate upgrade.

The thing about Wallace was that the Bulls owed him playing time because of his contract and his status in the league and whatnot. They couldn’t just stick him at the end of the bench and play the young guys. They won’t have that problem with Drew Gooden or Larry Hughes.

Let’s take a look at all the guys the Bulls got back here.

Drew Gooden

It may be hard to remember now, but there was a point when Drew Gooden was supposed to be a star. It’s why he bailed on Hinrich and Collison and left Kansas a year before they went to the title game and it’s why he ended up being the fourth pick in the draft. At 6’10, he’s big, and immediately becomes the Bulls best inside scorer. Is Gooden perfect? Of course not, but he’s an upgrade over anything the Bulls had. He has a decent jump shot and rebounds well enough. His contract is a little rough, but not terrible. Gooden will certainly be useful.

Larry Hughes

It may be hard to remember now, but there was a point when Larry Hughes wasn’t horrible. For as big of bust as Wallace was here, Hughes was just as bad in Cleveland. The problem was he couldn’t stay healthy, and when he was the Cavs kept screwing with his position. They were dying for a point guard so they tried him there and it didn’t really work. For the Bulls, he’ll fit in at a suddenly crowded shooting guard slot with Gordon and Thabo. The good thing about Hughes is that he’s big at 6’5 and he’s a solid defender. He was a legit scorer in this league in Washington not so long ago and he’s still relatively young. I also could see him as a piece to make another trade, especially he starts playing well. Apparently he also is somewhat frightening to valued commenter Mike for ‘reasons he can’t get into’. I feel like that’s worth noting.

Shannon ‘Sugar’ Brown

Don’t run out and buy that new jersey just yet Beau-Beau. It’s hard to tell how Brown fits in with this team. He becomes the fourth shooting guard, and possibly fifth depending on what you think of JamesOn Curry. The only way he really sticks is if he learns to play point guard. However, I do think that if Brown was given a chance, he would score. He was a great scorer in high school and college, and maybe coming home is exactly what the former Proviso East standout needs. Again, if he plays, he will score. It’ll be interesting to see what happens here.

Ced Simmons

When I heard Simmons was in the deal I was pretty surprised. He was the 15th overall pick in the draft last year. Simmons never got a shot in Cleveland, but that doesn’t mean he’s garbage just yet. Read his NBA Draft dot net bio from last year, it doesn’t sound too bad. Simmons seems like a throw in but he could be a real steal for Pax.

So the real question is: will the Bulls make the playoffs. I think so, but not everyone agrees.