The HRR NBA Trade Analyses Archive

February 19, 2002

“Rose, Best Head to Bulls in Seven-Player Deal”

The Indiana Pacers traded swingman Jalen Rose, G Travis Best, a conditional second round draft pick and G / F Norm Richardson to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for F Ron Artest, C Brad Miller, F / G Ron Mercer, and G Kevin Ollie.

Notes:

• Best and Richardson are free agents this summer.
• The second round pick is for either of the next two years, and only if the Pacers have a first-round pick.

2001 - ‘02 Player Salaries:

Jalen Rose, Chi: $10.87 M

Travis Best, Chi: $3 M.

Norm Richardson, Chi: $0.333 M.

Ron Artest, Ind: $1.2 M.

Brad Miller, Ind: $4.4 M.

Ron Mercer, Ind: $6.75 M.

Kevin Ollie, Ind: $0.600 M.

Who got the better of the deal?

Indiana.

Why?

Giving credit when it is due, Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Jerry Krause finally acquired a marquee player in Jalen Rose. Jerry had been unable to sign a high-level free agent the last two summers; however, trading for Rose helps ease that void.

“We are excited to acquire two players the caliber of Jalen Rose and Travis Best,” said Krause.

“We feel Jalen is an outstanding all-around player who can play three positions offensively and defensively. He’s a very good passer, extremely unselfish, a fine scorer and in the prime of his career at age 29. His leadership qualities and versatility are an added plus.

“Travis is a proven scorer and defender and, at 29, also in his prime. We hated to trade Artest, Miller, Mercer and Ollie, but to get quality you have to give quality. One of the reasons we felt we could part with Artest and Mercer is the continuing outstanding play of rookie Trenton Hassell at both ends of the court. We think that in Eddy Curry and Dalibor Bagaric we have two big, young centers who will be valuable for many years to come.”

“One of the things that enabled us to do this deal is that our draft last year, we think, is going to turn out to be a very, very special one, without putting undue pressure on guys,” he said. “But Tyson Chandler has matured greatly and is coming fast, and Eddy is coming extremely fast.”

“We had to give up a lot of talent, but we also got a lot of talent,” Krause said. “Jalen gets the ball to people. He's going to make our young players better just by his experience and by the fact that he knows how to play. He's played with great players. He's played in championship situations.”

Bulls’ head coach Bill Cartwright added, “This last half of the season is invaluable to development for next year. If we can finish these guys off this season playing quality minutes against quality people, we're really going to have something to start the next season.”

Jalen Rose is a very good all around player. However, the one huge weakness in his game is his unwillingness to play defense. Jalen’s disregard for defense shouldn’t be a problem with the Bulls because he won’t be asked to play defense on a consistent basis. The Bulls want and need Jalen to be the focal point of Chicago’s offense: initiating the offense; being the go to scorer in close game situations; keeping the team close when everything seems to go wrong, providing leadership and stability for his younger teammates, etc. As long as Jalen can accept being trading from a winning team to a rebuilding team, the Bulls should do quite well with this trade.

Travis Best can use the last few months of the season as an audition to showcase his skills and help make Bulls’ management decide to re-sign him this summer. Travis, 6’1, is more of a scorer than a point guard; but, he is quite capable of doing a solid job running Chicago’s offense. Like most players, Travis wants to receive a lot of playing time; so, he should be thrilled with the trade from that standpoint because he’ll get plenty of minutes with the Bulls.

Norm Richardson is a throw-in for salary cap purposes. However, he’s 6’4, a decent scorer, rebounder, and defender. The Bulls placed him on the injured list on with a sprained left ankle on February 20.

“We did the trade basically because we think it improves our team,” said Pacers’ GM Donnie Walsh. “It gives us strength where we had weaknesses. One of our prime things throughout the year is that Jermaine O'Neal needs a bigger presence at center in order to be able to play against power forwards and not centers all the time. That not only has a toll in each game, when there are mismatches he has to play against, but also it takes its toll over the course of the season.”

“I'm looking forward to coaching Miller, Artest, Mercer and Ollie,” said Pacers’ head coach Isiah Thomas. “I think they hit the spots that we need filled. Mercer and Artest are very athletic. They can defend the twos and the threes. Miller coming in can give Jermaine some relief at the five spot. You can play Jermaine and Miller together and you've also got Jeff in there, so it gives us a little tougher team. It's going to take a while before everybody gets used to each other but we're still a work in progress and our future is bright. We're trying to make sure we can stay competitive but keep building toward the championship team we all envision having. “

Ron Artest truly loves playing defense; and, his tough-minded attitude will be a big plus for the Pacers.

Brad Miller’s size and skills should allow Jermaine O’Neal the opportunity to shine at the power forward position. Brad, 7’0, 260, is a physical presence on the court. He is not afraid to commit a hard foul; but, he’s also skilled enough to knock down a perimeter shot.

Ron Mercer is a good scorer; but, not a good shooter. However, since he’ll be playing behind Reggie Miller, Ron’s minutes won’t be extensive; but, he’s quite capable of scoring in bunches off the bench. However, Ron was placed on the injured list on February 22 with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Kevin Ollie does not do anything flashy as a point guard; but, he does a good job running an offense. Plus, he’s a very good on the ball defender, too.