Gray trade could set stage for another deal

By trading center Aaron Gray to New Orleans for veteran guard Devin Brown on Monday, the Bulls are clearly hoping to move John Salmons or Kirk Hinrich before the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

The idea is to trade one of those guards for an expiring contract and create even more cap room to pursue free agents this summer. Such a deal won't be easy, because few teams are willing to take on add salary to their payrolls right now, two sources confirmed.

The 7-foot Gray has barely played this season after recovering from a stress fracture in his leg. A second-round draft pick in 2007, he did have some strong moments in his first season and a half with the Bulls.

His playing time faded along with Joakim Noah's improvement and Gray never seemed to get back in shape after the stress fracture knocked him out of training camp and the first two months of the regular season.

The 6-foot-5 Brown, 31, is an experienced guard who has played a major role in the past for the Spurs and Cavs, before joining New Orleans. He won an NBA title with the Spurs in '05.

He scored 22 points -- all in the first half -- when the Bulls beat the Hornets 96-85 at the United Center on Dec. 26. He’s been in a shooting slump recently, though, going 13 for 50 (26 percent) from behind the arc in January, compared to 26 for 57 (45.6 percent) in December.

Brown averaged 9.7 points, 1.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds for the Hornets this season. He knocked down 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range in that game against the Bulls, but is shooting just 39.4 percent overall this season, 36.7 percent from 3-point land. He is an accurate free-throw shooter (80.2 percent).

Brown has been getting steady playing time all season in New Orleans, logging 30 minutes as recently as Saturday against Denver.

For the Bulls, this move seems like a no-brainer, trading someone who never plays for a useful veteran guard. Of course, the Bulls could have used Brown last week when Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons missed games with the stomach flu.

Brown is expected to join the Bulls on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. How much he'll play when the Bulls are at full strength remains to be seen.

Why did the Hornets make this move? They saved a little bit on their luxury-tax bill, about $100,000. But New Orleans also lacks height on its roster, especially after giving away Hilton Armstrong a few weeks ago. The tallest inside players on the roster are 6-10 Emeka Okafor and Sean Marks.

The Hornets have also been getting strong play from rookie guards Marcus Thornton (9.4 ppg) and Darren Collison, so they probably felt Brown was expendable.

If the Bulls need an extra big man, Jerome James is relatively healthy after recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and could conceivably see game action soon. Last I heard, he was still preparing to pass one last fitness test to gain clearance to play.

The Bulls have been looking to add another guard for a few weeks and had serious discussions about signing Sundiata Gaines to a 10-day contract before he joinedd Utah. Gaines is the rookie guard from Georgia who drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Cavs a couple weeks ago.