Kings, Bulls swap six players

SACRAMENTO, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Sacramento and Chicago swapped six players Wednesday in the first of an expected flurry of deals prior to the NBA trade deadline.

The Bulls got center Brad Miller and swingman John Salmons for forwards Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin, and center Drew Gooden.

The Sacramento Bee reported late Wednesday the Kings also will deal Ruffin to Portland for forward Ike Diogu and will receive about $1 million from the Trailblazers.

Multiple league sources told the Bee the deal, one day ahead of the trade deadline, is pending league approval.

"I've been traded before and the way I look at it is it means somebody wants you," Gooden told the Chicago Tribune when he was pulled off the team bus Wednesday afternoon and told of the deal.

The 6-foot-6 Salmons, in his seventh season out of Miami, is averaging a career-high 18.3 points per game, and the 7-foot Miller, in his 11th season out of Purdue, is averaging 11.9 points and eight rebounds per game.