The Chicago Bulls have traded troubled but talented forward Tyrus Thomas to the Bobcats for the expiring contracts of Flip Murray and Acie Law, along with a protected future first round pick (likely lottery protected and set for 2012), this according to Yahoo! Sports.

Thomas is 6’10 and 225 pounds and will fill a much needed spot at power forward on the depth chart behind Boris Diaw. The 23 year old went to LSU, and entered the NBA in the 2006 draft, picked 4th overall. Tyrus has shown promise in his first few years in the league but has battled with coaches and is considered to be headstrong. This season, in 23.4 minutes he is averaging 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. He will likely see those same minutes in Charlotte, as Flip Murray had been playing 21.6 minutes per game. Now that Murray and Law are gone, look for DJ Augusting and Gerald Henderson to see increased playing time, and possibly a D-League call up for point guard depth, maybe even a certain fellow named Dontell Jefferson. The only downside to this trade in the short term is it could take away already scarce minutes from Nazr Mohammed and Derrick Brown. The loss of a shooter in Flip would’ve been disturbing, but his shot has been so hot and cold it’s likely that between Stephen Jackson and DJ Augustin, he won’t be missed too much.

If anything else develops between now and three, we’ll be sure to let you know — stay tuned!