Bulls acquire Salmons, Miller in seven-player deal with Kings

On his reaction to the trade
"Right now it's just shock. I really don't have any emotion to it right now...I wasn't 100 percent (sure he was being traded), because (teams) are talking about making deals all the time. But all of these rumors and everything going on, I was pretty confident that it was going to happen."

"But it's still kind of shocking. I think it's just shocking because Chicago came out of nowhere. (The Bulls weren't) even on the radar, and I'm going to Chicago all of a sudden.

On a conversation between Salmons and his agent, Joel Bell, on Wednesday leading up to the trade
He was like, 'I don't think it's going to happen because (Andres) Nocioni has a lot of years left on his contract.' And then like 15 minutes later, he was like, 'Yeah, you'd better go pack (for Chicago).'
"He was telling me Dallas and the Spurs were going at it (to get Salmons). He said Oklahoma City...I think (the Thunder) offered Desmond Mason. I was just like, 'If somebody's going to do it, then just do it.' Then right before I got the call about going to the Bulls, I heard something about the (New Jersey) Nets, and I was like '(Darn), the Nets are getting into it, and yesterday I heard something about the (New York) Knicks. I was like, 'Yo, something's got to happen.'

On how he thinks he'll fit in Chicago
They traded for me, so I'm sure I'm in their plans. I mean it's a lot of money coming back to them and they took it. You never really know until you get there and see what's going on."

On whether having Miller go with him makes the transition easier
"It definitely makes it easier, because he's been there (Miller played for the Bulls from 2000 to 2002). He was in Chicago, so he can tell me where to go, what to do, how to get to certain places. His wife is coming, so she can help my wife...That definitely helps a lot. That's a blessing right there.

On his time in Sacramento
"I see it as all positives. I don't see any negatives in coming out to Sacramento, other than being traded. And I don't really see that as a negative. It's just that I don't get to finish what I started here.
"I mean me and my wife came out here right after we got married. It helped us grow. We had our son here, were on our own and had to rely on each other. Even in the short period we had here, it was good. Basketball-wise, the Kings gave me a great opportunity to be able to show what I can do, and that's part of the reason why the trade happened now is because of that. If they wouldn't have given me an opportunity, I wouldn't have been in as high of demand as I was on this particular trade deadline.

On the experience leading up to the trade
"I was hearing there were teams calling them, but (the Kings) weren't really out shopping. But then once all these teams kept calling and it wasn't like (the Kings) were turning it down, I was thinking like, 'Why do they want to trade me so bad?' I started to wonder that. It was just weird to me that they were really trying to trade me that bad. (But) the fact that I was in such high demand this particular trade deadline is good.

"There were a lot of really good organizations that were calling. That's something to be proud of. That just shows me you produce on the court when other teams want you, and not just for the salary or space. They really want you on their team. Obviously, Sacramento didn't really see me in their future, so it's better to leave now when things are good rather than leave when they're getting ugly." - Sam Amick

(sacbee.com)