The Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls have agreed in principle to a deal that will make John Salmons a Milwaukee Buck by the end of the week. Specifics regarding which players the Bucks will be sending to Chicago are still fuzzy, as packages of Francisco Elson and Kurt Thomas, or Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick have been reported. Either way the Bucks will be taking on Salmons and his $5.8 million salary for next season, and giving up expiring contracts for Chicago to make a big push at the hometown hero Dwyane Wade or LeBron James (good luck with that…).
This trade helps out Milwaukee immediately, which is extremely important given that they are only two games out of the eighth seed in the East right now. While Carlos Delfino has performed admirably on the Bucks’ perimeter in the absence of Michael Redd, the Bucks could use a more seasoned vet like Salmons who should fit in nicely with coach Scott Skiles’ defensive mindset. Being the versatile and athletic player he is, Salmons will also provide an additional scoring punch for the Bucks. While his scoring numbers are down this season, he demonstrated the ability to put up numbers when called upon last year averaging of 18 ppg.
Do you think the addition of Salmons is enough for the bucks to steal the 8th spot from the Charlotte Bobcats? My gut says no, but the addition couldn’t hurt.
Update: the players included in this trade from the Bucks were Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick.
