You missed this? "General manager Gar Forman praised Del Negro for integrating new players quickly." Seems like a first.
The only problem I see with the trade is lack of depth at the small forward position. A lineup of Rose, Hinrich, and Murray is going to get exploited at the 3 position. But Murray has played for so many teams that he won't have a hard time fitting in with this team. Hopefully these acquisitions will be enough to keep Chicago from falling to the 8th seed in the playoff picture. The Bulls are capable of extending any playoff series with the exception of playing the Cavs in my opinion.
Warrick's athletic enough to play there if need be. And um... James Johnson. Yeah, ok, I don't believe that either.
I like the Murray acquisition. He's just as good as Salmons imo. I still wish we took a chance on Amare though, hell, Tmac.
The backup SF situation is perplexing because it's going on 4 or five years now. The bulls really haven't had the quick, long athletic wing that could slash since Jordan and Pippen. Maybe Jamal Crawford, but he wasn't that much of a slasher. Salmons was too old to be that guy. Deng isn't as athletic as I'd like, but he makes up for it with his outside shooting to a degree, but I'd still like to see the bulls get that kind of player. I don't think James Johnson is that guy either.
Well, one thing to consider is that now they're a ways under the luxury tax. I wonder if they'll be in the market to pick up a couple guys who get waived for the playoff run. Tony Battie and Jarvis Hayes wouldn't be terrible pickups. They'd both fill a need and I wouldn't shed any tears at seeing Pargo and Hunter take a hike.
I like Johnson's game. If he gets his head straight and they develop him properly I think he has the ability to be a more athletic lamar odom
