John Salmons

Ric Bucher kicks the night off with the announcement of a three team trade between Charlotte, Sacramento and Milwaukee, one which highlights the futility of ever trying to predict trades. [No one alive predicted this. No one even predicted the framework of it.] Bucher tells of how Charlotte will trade Stephen Jackson, Shaun Livingston and the #19 pick to Milwaukee, in exchange for Corey Maggette from Milwaukee and the #7 pick from Sacramento, thereby ending my own Stephen Jackson-based aspirations.

The trade also includes John Salmons and the #10 pick being sent from Milwaukee to Sacramento, in addition to Beno Udrih going the other way, thereby making the deal from the Kings perspective a swap of Salmons for Udrih, and a trading down of three spots. Salmons was a King between July 2006 and February 2009, when he was traded to Chicago along with Brad Miller in exchange for Andres Nocioni's lengthy contract, Drew Gooden's expiring contract, and some peripheries. Sacramento's motivation to deal was to save short term money by taking on long term money. They then did the opposite, taking on short term money to open up long term cap space, when they traded Nocioni and Spencer Hawes last summer for Samuel Dalembert. And now they have used that cap space.......on John Salmons. It is, needless to say, a baffling trade, and one that could have been avoided had the Kings done more than 5 seconds of Googling and checked to see if Salmons had gotten much worse since he left.

The rest of the deal is fairly simple to comprehend. Charlotte moves up big by giving up two decent but excess guards, and accelerates a long moribund rebuilding process. Milwaukee beings the long process of undoing their own expensive mistakes, gaining some contributors in the process. But as for Sacramento........what was the point? What was the aim? What does this deal hope to achieve? The answers get no clearer throughout the evening.

(Stephen Jackson is reported to be unhappy about being traded to Milwaukee. Him and a thousand others. Wait until the day comes that he's traded to somewhere where he's not allowed to wear a headband. It's going to kick off.)

[T]he amnesty clause (that we're having to pretend will exist here, but which almost certainly will exist in some form) will further expand the range of available talents. A lot of decent players are going to become available, not because they can't play the game, but because they can't justify their contract. A lot of the candidates are obvious and inevitable, some perhaps less so. Here's a potential list:

- Milwaukee: John Salmons, Corey Maggette and Drew Gooden - Pretty much every dollar Milwaukee gave out last summer is one they would like back. Salmons put up his worst season since his Philadelphia days, while Maggette proved to yet another team who hoped to convert his numbers into production that it wasn't possible. Meanwhile, Drew Gooden barely played, and shot every time down when he did, hitting only 43% of said chucks.

Later in the day, it was announced that the Bucks have also tentatively re-signed swingman John Salmons to a 5 year, $39 million deal, that may increase in value with incentives.

Salmons was always likely to re-sign, and now - although no deal can be completely finalised for we are in the July Moratorium - it seems as though he will. The $39 million figure means a contract of about $1.4 million annually more than the value of the mid-level exception, which is a significant paycheck for a decent but not great player. It does mean, however, that Salmons made the right decision to opt out.

Milwaukee needs a scorer more than ever, particularly from the perimeter. Michael Redd will never play for Milwaukee again, and the only consistent half-court scorer is centre Andrew Bogut. Even then, Bogut is better defensively. (Note: Drew Gooden doesn't count as a consistent half-court scorer.) In this regard, Salmons carried the Bucks down the stretch of last season, when Bogut was injured and Brandon Jennings stuck in reverse. He saved their season.

Now, they'll be hoping he can carry them in a similar fashion for the next five years.

The Bulls and Bucks both did two trades, including one with each other. Chicago was determined to find some more 2010 free agency money, as well they should be, so they dumped two average players for four mediocre-to-bad ones to ensure it. They first traded John Salmons to the Bucks for the expiring contracts of Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander. And later they followed that up by trading Tyrus Thomas to Charlotte for Ronald Murray, Acie Law and a future first round draft pick. One that won't get until at least 2012 due to the outstanding first that Charlotte already owes Minnesota (Ty Lawson deal) via Denver (Alexis Ajinca deal).

In both instances, the outgoing Bulls player was the best player in the deal. And you never like to see that. Yet both of those players were only average; fringe starters and quality backups, useful but far from integral, and not the kind of player you jeopardise the possibility of a big free agency run for. Salmons would probably have opted into his contract next season, which would have been debilitating to the Bulls free agency hopes. So for the cost of two second rounders (the pick swap will not be relevant), the Bulls removed this risk. Thomas was going to be a free agent anyway, who would inevitably have to have been renounced; his stay in Chicago was well and truly worn out.