Chicago’s Next Trade?
On the heels of the huge Carmelo Anthony trade late Monday night, the Chicago Bulls of all teams made the next move during this February’s trade season by shipping off James Johnson to the Toronto Raptors for a 2011 first round draft pick.
Johnson, the 16th overall selection in the 2009 NBA draft, is a freak of an athlete but never really found his basketball sense while playing for Chicago. Toronto is young enough to afford him a chance to blossom, and Johnson certainly has enough potential to be worth a late first-rounder.
That pick, which Toronto got from Miami in the Chris Bosh sign-and-trade, won’t be a particularly high one for the Bulls, but it gives them two first round picks in this year’s draft, as well as two picks in 2012′s draft as well (their own and the one they got from Charlotte in the Tyrus Thomas deal).
While Chicago isn’t necessarily expected to make a huge splash on the trade scene before Thursday, all those first rounders do give them some desirable assets that could help them pursue an upgrade at shooting guard, should they feel so inclined to do so.
{AUTHOR_BOX}So far, all sources have indicated that other teams want a player—not a pick—in return for the guys Chicago seems to be after, and the Bulls have been reticent to do that. It’s a huge reason why the Omer Asik-for-Courtney Lee thing was promptly shut down.
Perhaps more importantly, it sheds about $1.7 million in salary from the Bulls’ books, putting them $2.9 million under the cap. That’s just enough money to throw at a veteran that could potential be bought out from his team. Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton are two possibilities, but more could pop up after Thursday’s deadline expires. Cleveland’s Anthony Parker, Indiana’s T.J. Ford, and New Jersey’s Troy Murphy are a few other players who could fit that mold.
The Bulls play the Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday night, and there’s a strong possibility that Johnson could be uniform with his new team since he was already planning on heading out that way. Hopefully he’ll get a better opportunity in Canada than he got with Chicago. The Bulls, meanwhile, still may have more roster moves up their sleeve.
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