Bulls acquire F-C Brown, G Smith from Hornets for C Chandler

July 14, 2006
CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Chicago Bulls finalized a deal with the New
Orleans Hornets on Friday, acquiring forward-center P.J. Brown and
guard J.R. Smith for center Tyson Chandler.

The deal between two of the most active clubs in the offseason
originally was reported July 5.

Since July 1, the Bulls have made the biggest free agent signing,
prying All-Star center Ben Wallace away from the rival Detroit
Pistons. The Hornets also have been active, landing forward Peja
Stojakovic and guard Bobby Jackson.


Both teams had solid drafts as well. The Bulls landed LSU forward
Tyrus Thomas and Swedish swingman Thabo Sefolosha and the Hornets
selected Connecticut center Hilton Armstrong, North Carolina State
forward Cedric Simmons and Brazilian forward Marcus Vinicius.

The activity by the Hornets and owner George Shinn is very
surprising. When the team was in Charlotte, it was known as one of
the most frugal outfits in the NBA and went years without re-signing
any of its own free agents.

For the Bulls, the signing of Wallace to a four-year, $60 million
deal made Chandler expendable. He has five years and $54 million
remaining on his contract and is a shot-blocker and rebounder
without much of an offensive repertoire.

With the Hornets, the 7-1 Chandler joins a frontcourt that could use
a defensive presence alongside forward David West and forward-center
Marc Jackson, both of whom are offensive-minded. Chandler, 23,
averaged 5.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.32 blocks in 79 games last
season, his fifth in the NBA.

The 6-10 Brown joins the durable Wallace, the athletic Thomas and
wide-body Mike Sweetney on Chicago's front line. He is an
outstanding locker-room presence and has just one year remaining on
his contract, giving the Bulls future flexibility.

"We really welcome the veteran leadership that P.J. will bring to
our team," Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations
John Paxson said. "He brings a consistent game at both ends of the
floor and we will be counting on his production in helping us
improve as a team.

Brown turns 37 in October. While playing out of position at center,
he averaged 9.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in 75 games last season, his
13th in the NBA.

In 999 games with New Jersey, Miami and the Charlotte/New Orleans
franchise, Brown has averaged 9.4 points and 8.0 rebounds. He has
missed just 35 games in his career.

A change of scenery might help Smith, who fell out of favor with
Hornets coach Byron Scott due to a poor work ethic. The 20-year-old
began the season as the starting shooting guard and ended it out of
the rotation.

The 6-6 Smith averaged 7.7 points while shooting less than 40
percent from the field last season, his second in the NBA. He will
have to work hard to impress Bulls coach Scott Skiles.





Updated on Friday, Jul 14, 2006 5:40 pm














--- In dapeopleschamps@yahoogroups.com, channelthirtythree
<no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> just one year after giving him a big contract(which was a
mistake),
> he's being traded to the Hornets for PJ Brown and JR Smith...
Smith has
> potential, but will not supplant any of our shooting guards as a
> starter on this team.. i almost believe he might not even make the
team
> based on last year's motivation problems.. he will have to work
hard to
> impress Skiles.. PJ Brown is a solid player in the last year of
his
> contract which means the Bulls will once again have some financial
> flexibility next year without Chandler's stifling contract to
worry
> about.. of course, guys like Gordon and Hinrich will have to be
looked
> at in the next few years to determine where deals will fall with
them..
>
> as i said before, this year's team is looking pretty solid and
could
> be a good year..
>
> j
>