Despite being mired in a season that has been derailed by injuries, the Chicago Bulls are determined not to trade impending free-agent forward Luol Deng, sources told ESPN.com. Teams are inquiring about Deng's status with the Bulls, who continue to sink in the standings in the wake of the knee injury that wrecked another season for Derrick Rose. Deng told the Chicago Sun-Times this week that he's been preparing for the possibility of being traded, but sources said that's not in the team's plans. Read more http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/10170892/chicago-bulls-not-seeking-trade-luol-deng
Courtesy of NBC Sports: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....ld-you-think-that/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs Deng is in the final year of a contract paying him $14.3 million. The two-time All-Star has averaged a career high 19.6 points per game with a good True Shooting Percentage 54.2 percent. This has been the best season of his career. Plus coach Tom Thibodeau really loves him on the defensive ends. Still, is it really the Bulls plan to bring him back at more than $10 million a season and keep playing him in front of Taj Gibson? Would the Bulls really be willing to match what some other teams will be willing to pay Deng this summer? More likely, the Bulls don’t want to take back long-term salary in a deal and would be more willing to play out the season with Deng and let him go rather than eat up future cap space. Because of the salary demands and the fact that expiring deals are not the great trade chip they once were, the Bulls may not be getting offers they find attractive in the wake of the Rose injury — I’m sure teams came in hoping for a fire sale and making lowball offers. Still, you have to think they will consider this more seriously close to the deadline. This is an All-Star player and the Bulls will expect compensation commiserate with that, but you have to think they will listen. Unless the new plan is to really bring back Deng, keep Carlos Boozer another year and try again to make a run with this core group. Not sure that’s the wise play in Chicago, but it is an option.
I was glad to see the ESPN article. As I've stated on this and other boards, re-signing Deng means competing for a title next season while trading him or letting him walk almost certainly means a re-build. I'd rather see the Bulls compete for the title.
If the Bulls are prepared to re-sign Deng for up to Josh Smith money then there's no need to trade him. I'd rather see the Bulls keep their really good players instead of trading them away for the option value of possibly getting other really good players to take their place. But if they're not, Dion Waiters and a pick swap works for me. If the Bulls sign Deng, amnesty Boozer, bring over Mirotic, and get a decent lottery pick, how competitive is our team next year?
I think 2 years from now. Rose is going to take a whole season to get back in shape, I think, and our draft pick (even Rose did, too) may not be an NBA champion as a rookie.
Rumors of a Deng for Okafor is being or has been discussed with the Suns. Cant happen until sometime in January. Suns have 4 first round picks and are 15-10 as of tonight. They seem to be ready to be one of the best teams in the West in another year or two.
I don't see any similar rumors reported. Before the draft, it was rumored the Bulls might trade Deng to Washington for Okafor and the #3 pick.
