The Toronto Raptors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday, giving the Chicago Bulls an opportunity to gain a game on the Raptors and tie them for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls, unfortunately, did not take advantage of this and they lost 79-74 to the Milwaukee Bucks.  After jumping out to a 27-14 lead after the first quarter, they followed it with a pathetic 9-point second quarter and 15-point third quarter.  They also let former Bull John Salmons drop 26 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists on them.  It was not a good night for the Bulls, but they will get another chance Thursday night against the Cavs and Friday at New Jersey before hosting the Raptors on Sunday.  Sunday’s game against the Raptors will be like a playoff game, since whoever wins that game will likely win the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Chicago Bulls have released the 39-year-old veteran guard Lindsey Hunter and have signed the second year forward/center Chris Richard for the rest of the season.  This was only Hunter’s second season with the Bulls, but he was with the Bulls to provide some veteran leadership and be there as a mentor to some of the Bulls’ young players.  So, the Bulls are not going to miss Hunter’s production on the court, but he will be missed in the locker room.  Hunter played in 13 games for the Bulls this season and averaged 1.0 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 9.4 minutes per game.  This move was made to make room for the young big-man, Chris Richard.  The Bulls are very banged up right now, especially in the front court, so Richard will add some more depth there.  The 6’9″ 256-pound Richard appeared in 5 games for the Bulls a few weeks ago, and averaged 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 14.4 minutes per game.  The Bulls are hoping Richard can come in and hit the glass hard and provide another big body on defense.

The Bulls have waived 25-year old forward Chris Richard. Richard played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he was averaging 14.4 minutes, 2.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Bulls had to cut Richard to make room for all of the new players they got in the last couple of days.

The Chicago Bulls have traded Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats in return for Flip Murrey, Acie Law, and a future first-round draft pick.  Thomas, who was the fourth pick in the 2006 draft pick, never reached his full potential with the Bulls.  He did show signs of greatness at times, but his play was very inconsistent and his shot selection questionable.  He never panned out to be a star, but he was a good role player for the Bulls and their best shot-blocker.  This season he played in 29 games (3 starts) and averaged 23.4 minutes, 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.4 steals while shooting 48% from the field.  In his 3 1/2 seasons with the Bulls, he played in 254 games (95 starts) and averaged 20.3 minutes, 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, 0.9 steals, and a 45% FG percentage.

Although the Bulls didn’t get a ton in return for Thomas, Murray and Law’s contracts are both expiring after this season.  That means the Bulls will have more money for the big-name free agents coming up this offseason.  Murray is also a pretty solid guard who this season is averaging 9.9 points, 1.8 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.6 steals.  He has not been shooting the ball well from outside though, with a 39% FG percentage and 31% 3P percentage.  Law has not been getting much playing time, averaging just 7 minutes per game.  The biggest parts of this deal though are the increased salary cap room they have made, along with the future first-round draft pick.

With the Chicago Bulls reaching a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks to trade John Salmons and his $5.8 million salary for Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson, word is coming out that Bulls have pulled themselves out of the Tracy McGrady bidding.  T-Mac is a star, but there were a lot of downsides to that that trade as well, so it wasn’t too big of a disappointment.  McGrady has never won a playoff series and is very injury prone.  He is often seen as one of the most overrated players in the league, so there are a lot of Bulls fans that are happy this T-Mac trade didn’t happen.  Still, T-Mac would have provided the Bulls with a lot more production than Salmons ever did and it would have been fun to see how he and D-Rose played together.  Both Thomas and Elson have expiring contracts after this season, so that means the Bulls have cleared up some more cap space for the big 2010 free agency class that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and a slew of other talented players.  Thomas and Elson will provide some veteran leadership and depth in the front court, but will likely be gone after this season.

Rumors are coming out that the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks are competing in trade negotiations with the Houston Rockets to acquire Tracy McGrady.  The Bulls have apparently already traded John Salmons to the Bucks.  That means the Bulls would have to give up Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller, and Kirk Hinrich.  At first I wasn’t too sure if I wanted the Bulls to go for this trade, as I have always thought T-Mac was overrated and injury prone.  Then I thought about how much a point guard like Derrick Rose could help McGrady’s game.  McGrady is a supreme talent who has averaged 21.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks in his career.  He has never played with a point guard with the skills and athleticism that Rose brings to the table.  McGrady won’t have to deal with double teams with Rose on his team, so he will get a lot more open shots and room to drive to the hole.  He does have a big ego and he has had a rift with Houston and has only played in 6 games this season.  That means he is fresh, and presumably healthy though.  If this trade happens the Bulls will miss Miller’s production off the bench and Thomas’ shot blocking, but Hinrich has done more harm than good for the Bulls this season with his horrible shooting.  So, after all I think McGrady could do a lot of good things for the Bulls, especially with D. Rose running the show for him.

The Bulls have traded 30-year old SG/SF John Salmons to the Bucks for 27-year old forward Hakim Warrick and 23-year old forward Joe Alexander. Salmons played in 51 games (28 starts) for the Bulls this season and he was averaging 33.2 minutes, 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Warrick has played in 48 games (6 starts) for the Bucks this season and he is averaging 21.3 minutes, 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played in 355 games (88 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 10.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Joe Alexander played in 59 games (0 starts) last season as a rookie for the Bucks in which he averaged 12.1 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. I like this trade a lot better than the first reported one which involved Francisco Elson and Kurt Thomas coming to the Bulls. Warrick will likely get a lot of P.T. the rest of the year for the Bulls. Alexander might help them out down the road.

The Chicago Bulls have signed 25-year old power forward Chris Richard to a 10-day contract. He one played one year in the NBA (2007-08). That year he played in 52 games (3 starts) for the T-Wolves in which he averaged 10.7 minutes, 1.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He will give the Bulls another big body off the bench until Joakim Noah is ready to return to action after the All Star break.

The Bulls have acquired 31-year old shooting guard Devin Brown from the Hornets for 25-year old center Aaron Gray. Brown played in 39 games (37 starts) for the Hornets this year and he was averaging 24.8 minutes, 9.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game but he was only shooting 39.4% from the floor. Brown has now played in 454 games (127 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 19.7 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Look for Brown to give the Bulls a jolt of offense off the bench that Jannero Pargo couldn’t give him. Gray played in only 8 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he was averaging 6.3 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He played in 125 games (19 starts) for the Bulls and he averaged 11.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The Bulls shouldn’t miss Gray too much.

The Bulls have re-signed 24-year old center Aaron Gray to a 1-year deal worth around a million bucks. Gray played in 61 games (1 start) for the Bulls last year and he averaged 10.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played two years for the Bulls in which he has played in 117 games (19 starts) in which he has averaged 11.4 minutes, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The 7-foot Gray gives the Bulls pretty solid depth at center.