Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman met with the representatives of Luol Deng to continue discussions on parameters of a contract extension this week, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Forman and Deng's agents, Ron Shade and Herb Rudoy, met on Monday in Chicago to further dialogue on parameters for an extension, league sources said. Deng, 28, has one year, $14.3 million on his deal and could become part of the star-filled free-agent class of 2014 if he doesn't reach a long-term agreement with the Bulls. Read more http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--luol-deng--bulls-continue-extension-talks-184545741.html Bulls posters from ESPN join us!! Talk about the Bulls with us.
These talks are going to be painful, but we need to have them. I suppose in the end if Reinsdorf wants him, Lu stays. And I think Reinsdorf wants him. Gar will have to make a strong case that Lu should go, and he'll need the contract parameters as part of his argument. (If Gar does want to trade him)
I would imagine Paxson wants to keep him as well. He's part of the "core 4" of Hinrich, Gordon, Deng and Nocioni that Paxson thought could be the cornerstone of a NBA champion. He's wanting between 12-14 mil a season. Seems like a lot of cheddar. But, if you don't sign him, what do you replace him with and actually go around trying to tell Derrick Rose that he's on a team interested in winning a NBA Championship. And... if Thibbs loses Omer and Deng due to the org not wanting to pony up, he's going to be a grumpy goose.
Execs: Deng Extension Worth Between Deals Of Smith, Iguodala Luol Deng's representatives and the Chicago Bulls have continued discussions about a contract extension, and several NBA executives believe Deng is worth somewhere between the deals Josh Smith and Andre Iguodala signed this offseason. Iguodala signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Golden State Warriors while Smith signed a four-year, $56 million agreement with the Detroit Pistons. Deng's reps met with Gar Forman in Chicago on Monday. The Bulls' desire to stay under the luxury-tax threshold could jeopardize the franchise's ability to pay Deng market value. The Bulls maintain Deng is part of the team's core. Source http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--luol-deng--bulls-continue-extension-talks-184545741.html
You don't need to replace him. You need to find a SG, since you would move Butler to his natural SF position as Deng's replacement. I'm not even sure the team needs to get anything back for Deng. The cap space really makes that much of a difference under this new CBA.
I could be wrong, but I'm assuming that the Bulls will amnesty Boozer after this season and pay Mirotic the full $5mil MLE. This will put the Bulls' salaries here for the 2014-15 season: Rose $18.9mil Noah $12.2 Gibson $8.0 Mirotic $5.0 Dunleavy $3.1 Butler $2.0 Teague $1.1 Snell $1.4 (est) Murphy $0.8 (est) 3 cap holds @ $0.9 each $2.7 Total $55.2mil Adding Deng at say $13mil only puts the team salaries at $68.2mil, short of luxury tax territory. On the other hand, if the Bulls let Deng walk, they'd only have about $3-4mil of cap space with which to sign a free agent.
I like Jimmy Butler but I'm not convinced that he's an adequate replacement for Deng at this point. I'm hoping to see 30+mpg of very above average NBA ball from this this season as he takes another big step forward. If we're talking about Jimmy and Mirotic then we might as well just call it "win later" and aim for 2-3 years from now and make that the focus. Still very unconvinced about Mirotic as well BTW. How many euro guys have we seem come over here and not make much of an impact? I get that its a nice gamble, but too many people are treating this guy like he's a lock stud and that just isn't at all certain at this point.
I think the MLE could be used after signing the FA, so you would have $6-$7M + $5M. If your numbers are correct - like I don't see Dunleavy on there.
How hard is it to play zone defense? It's pretty much what Thibs runs. And Thibs can win with girls; Jimmy's a lot better than a girl. Plus Jimmy already gave us 26 minutes of very above average play, right? 15.2 PER, solid D, excellent FG and 3pt shooting... Isn't Taj our insurance policy for Mirotic?
First off, thanks. I did miss Dunleavy. I revised my original post. As for signing the FA then using the MLE, no soap I'm afraid: Source: Coon Salary Cap FAQ So with your Dunleavy correction, and assuming roster I showed above, letting Deng walk would yield an insignificant amount of usable cap space.
Why do they need to use the MLE on Mirotic? If we renounced it, we could offer him $8M if that's allowed. Anyhow, looking at the roster you posted, it's not impressing me very much. Beyond Rose and Noah, the Teague, Snell, Murphy, and 4 vet minimum type players isn't exactly strong. Teague may develop, and Snell, too. That's no sure thing. Taj is a good player, not great. Butler ideally steps up his game a notch. We also have draft picks you didn't account for?
I think $5mil will do it for Mirotic. Besides, my best guess is that Deng will be on the 2014-15 team which means the best they could offer Mirotic is the $5mil. I didn't include the team's 2014 1st round draft pick 'cause I expect it to be a very late selection and the difference in money between the pick and a vet minimum is insignificant. For the 2014-15 season, Rose, Noah, Deng and Gibson ought to be in their prime (26-29). Butler will be 25, Mirotic and Snell 23 and Teague 21. This may not be the team they put out there, but it is a team that is within the Bulls control to put out there...and it looks like a pretty damn good team to me.
You expect Lu to be here in 14-15? I think I do too. But I'm not sure. There's a lot of smoke about Aldridge, although I don't see how Portland would want Deng.
I suppose I'm feeling something like 70%-30% on Deng being retained. Portland wants Noah. They can't have him.
The strength of next year's FA class is almost entirely contingent on whether or not a bunch of superstars (Lebron, Melo, Dwayne, Bosh) decide to opt out of their contracts. If they do it'll be 2010 all over again, but if they don't......... there's probably going to be a lot of teams that are all dressed up with no one to blow. Regardless of his (de)merits as a player, some other team will probably give Luol 12 million per year if the Bulls don't. And no, there's not going to be a "hometown discount."
Jimmy looked good this last season. Deng has been very good to good for 8+ seasons while playing a heavy minute load and playing an important role for our coach of the year coach. Sure, Butler could be better the next 4 years compared to Deng. But that's far from a sure thing at this point. Butler could also take a step back this year. Happens all the time. And perhaps Deng's wrist is feeling better and he can shoot efficiently again. That would greatly increase Deng's production. As for Gibson, who knows? He looked pretty much like crap last season. As it stands right now swapping Deng for Butler (who takes up butlers quality minutes?) and swapping out Boozer for Mirotic/Gibson making the Bulls better is far from a sure thing. It hardly seems like a plan to win a title dethroning the close to dynasty Heat. That being said, Butler could take another big step forward this year, Gibson gets healthy/productive again and Mirotic is the goods. Its just very much up in the air at this point. --- Right now, we have an MVP level player (assuming he's healthy), two low level all-star players, an above average player in Boozer, a potential very good player in Butler and not much else of note. Two years from now, we're talking about a guy that has not played 1 minute of NBA basketball and Butler replacing the low level all-star and the above average PF. The sad thing is, its hard to see how the Bulls get a roster again as good as the one they had two years ago with basically the same starters along with very good players like Asik as bench guys along with valuable role players like Korver and Gibson and Watson. Going to take some aggressive and canny moves from GarPax.
I think you're right about the potential for the team in the future. Transplant showed the salary situation and roster we're committed to for next season, and beyond Noah and Rose it was pretty meh. Mirotic and Butler have to really come through. On the other hand, I think we're blessed with a guy near as good as our all star at PF. Maybe there is a drop off, but it isn't severe. The opportunity to deal him for someone who's a HUGE HUGE HUGE upgrade at SG far more offsets any perceived loss at SF.
