Details of Chicago Bulls’ trade of Greg Smith released by team
By Jake Misener
According to a press release from the organization, the Chicago Bulls have traded Greg Smith to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the rights to Tadija Dragicevic.
The deal, which was originally reported yesterday, will send Smith, who originally signed with Chicago in April, to Dallas for what one FOX Sports report source called “nothing.”
"The Dallas Mavericks will acquire minimum-wage center/forward Greg Smith in a trade with the Bulls, an NBA source confirms, adding that Dallas has given up “nothing” in the swap."
The report continued, elaborating on the trade, saying that the return Chicago netted was unclear at that point in time, but essentially meant one of two things:
"There are ways to figuratively trade “nothing” to a team (like a “prospect” who isn’t really a prospect or $75,000 cash) and that information will be more available once the deal is finalized."
Smith, a forward-center combo, is unlikely to be much of a factor in Dallas, but could be a backup big man for the Mavericks. He has a career average of 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Last season, he played below that level, scoring just under four points per game while pulling in just 2.5 boards per contest.
The Dallas Morning News offered this perspective on Dragicevic in an article late Monday night:
"Dragicevic (6-9, 222) was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 53rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. The Mavericks acquired the native Serbian from Utah and cash considerations from the Houston Rockets in a four-team trade and sent forward Lamar Odom to the Los Angeles Clippers and the draft rights to Shan Foster to the Utah Jazz. In exchange, Los Angeles sent guard Mo Williams to Utah and the draft rights to forward Furkan Aldemir to Houston."
Largely, this is viewed as a cost-cutting measure on behalf of Chicago. The acquisition of Smith, when it was initially reported Saturday, preceded the departure of forward DeJuan Blair.