Like all trades are supposed to do, Tuesday's Indiana-Chicago trade should be beneficial to both teams, but the edge goes to the Pacers for making a significant upgrade.

In terms of both attitude and talent, the Pacers are a better team with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, Ron Artest and Kevin Ollie. The way they were going, they were dead in the water with Jalen Rose and Travis Best, even though they are both good players. Best was unhappy to be a second point guard behind Jamaal Tinsley. Rose, who wasn't playing his best basketball, was unhappy because Tinsley was handling the ball more often than Rose.

The trade clears the air a bit and improves the Pacers, especially without Al Harrington, whose season-ending injury was a huge loss for them. The Pacers can be more together as a team and more energized for the stretch run as they pursue at least the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The additions of Artest and Brad Miller gives the Pacers an improved front line of Miller, Artest and Jermaine O'Neal and strengthens their rebounding. I regarded Artest as the Bulls' best player. Although he can be wild with his game, he is one of the better small-guard defenders in the league when he plays within the team structure and keeps his emotions under control. Playing Miller and O'Neal up front will pose problems for other teams, who would have to play their center against Brad Miller and a big forward against O'Neal.

Isiah Thomas' challenge will be to find enough minutes for both Reggie Miller and Mercer at the two-guard spot. There are times in which they may play together. Thomas also must figure out what to do with Jonathan Bender, Austin Croshere and Jeff Foster. The Pacers have more depth and a surplus of solid players who all want to start. If Isiah can work out a satisfactory player rotation, the deal could be a huge boost for Indiana.

One player who won't start is Ollie, who is a solid backup point guard. Ollie knows his job is to come off the bench, whereas Best was displeased with that role.

Meanwhile, the deal also improves the Bulls' talent level, a boost they sorely needed. Rose is now the Bulls' best player, and Best may be their next best player. While Rose is locked into his contract until the 2006-2007 season, Best is a free agent after this season. He may like it in Chicago because he will play big minutes as the starter.

The Bulls are still counting on the development of rookies Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry to go along with Rose, Best, Eddie Robinson, Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford, whom they expect to return from knee surgery and play this season. If Crawford really comes on strong to close out this season, the Bulls may not need Best next season. Reports on Crawford have been very positive. Rookie guard Trenton Hassell also looks like a solid player.

Chicago should get one of the first picks in the next NBA draft. If Crawford turns out to be what the Bulls think he can be, they could draft Yao Ming instead of Jason Williams and set themselves up for a future front line of Yao Ming, Chandler at the three and Curry at the four to go with Rose at the two and either Crawford or Best at the one. The Bulls are starting to look more like an NBA team.

Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay, ESPN's NBA analyst, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.