ESPN: Bulls "determined" to NOT trade Deng

[Bisonbull8]

Depending on our draft position around the deadline, id think about keeping him too. I cant remember who all said it, I know 1 mod said it, and a few others, but if we get Mirotic this off season, amnesty boozer, id want to re-sign deng too. Id let him walk if we get bad enough for a top 2-3 pick for Jabari so then Jabari can play the 3. And with our injuries, it honestly isnt out of the realm to get into the top 3 spot. Heck we are 1.5 games ahead of the Kings and 3.5 ahead of the Jazz in the west. We are 1.5 games ahead of the Magic for 3rd worst in the east. Ya I know we are also like 1 game away or so from the 6-8 seed but we are truly going down hill right now and I dont see an end in site.

[P.C.]

Local guys have said the Bulls are listening to offers for Deng.

Do you trust any of them? I think chokegate proved that none of them are in the loop. I'd wager a substantial amount of money that all of their sources are Bulls PR guys who just tell them what they want to hear.

[Hangtime84]

The ONLY way he should not be traded is if they are more than confident they can re-sign him to a fair deal. I want Deng back, but you can't overpay him and risk losing him for nothing as well. Start extension talks again at the All-Star break.

Bargin deal, not fair deal. A bargin

[weneeda2guard]

Not surprised

They would only want to do a deal to clear more cap space and get a draft pick and teams are holding they picks this season like " me precious" ring.

In order to trade deng they likely would have to take on additional salary and Its clear they want they cap space this off season

I would hope that they want it because they have plans in mind but looking at the track record here they could come into next season with just a healthy rose, some cheap vet min signings and a draft pick. Deng may just walk

[Ice Man]

According to a guy I know, the Bulls are talking to Phoenix and Cleveland about Deng for a 1st round 2014 pick. It's semi-reliable source.

[Wingy]

Could just be leverage for trade talks. But if true you have to sign him. There is no in between here.

If Cowley is right that they're "$5-6M apart" I don't understand how they expect to re-sign him.

All it takes is Mark Cuban landing his jet in Chicago with a 4/60 contract and Deng is outie. It just seems like a dumb chance to take, especially if there's interest from several teams. There could be a scenario where Deng is the best player available at the trade deadline. Why not take advantage of that?

Why?

"When a Thibs/GarPax/Jerryyyyyy loves a Denger!!! Can't keep their minds on nothin else. They'd trade common sense away for the good thing they found."

[molepharmer]

....But sources said that is not in the team's plans. Despite failing to come to terms on a contract extension before the season, the Bulls remain optimistic they will be able to re-sign Deng next summer.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/ ... -luol-deng

I'd like to know what has changed since before the season that would make the Bulls more optimistic about re-signing Deng. He's played well and if teams are inquiring about him, the Bulls (and Luol) have to know Deng is going to be a high off-season commodity. Hard to imagine his asking price has gone down. And I'd think any pre-season offers from the Bulls would have been with the understanding they could sign him at that time to a small discount. What was the FO hoping would happen during the season for Lu's pre-season asking price to drop to be more in line with their thinking ?

[aaqubed]

Guessing this is mostly because he can't stay on the floor, which is probably killing his trade value.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

According to a guy I know, the Bulls are talking to Phoenix and Cleveland about Deng for a 1st round 2014 pick. It's semi-reliable source.

This was also reported by Schanowski. He said the PHX deal was sitting out there as a possibility because it can't happen until mid-Jan.

[cubbiefan009]

The ONLY way he should not be traded is if they are more than confident they can re-sign him to a fair deal. I want Deng back, but you can't overpay him and risk losing him for nothing as well. Start extension talks again at the All-Star break.

Bargin deal, not fair deal. A bargin

Deng is one of the best SF in the NBA. Its fine to give him a deal he deserves but we can't make him what Boozer is to us now. That will hurt the team. I think 5/60 is reasonable for both sides.

[AAU Teammate]

brian Windhorst is very Cleveland/Ohio connected

[RoseTheFuture22]

I would be ok with keeping Deng depending on the contract but they better not let him walk for nothing like they always do

[weneeda2guard]

According to a guy I know, the Bulls are talking to Phoenix and Cleveland about Deng for a 1st round 2014 pick. It's semi-reliable source.

Only teams I would imagine would part with they pick are teams destined to make the playoffs

I doubt Phoenix fits that

And clevleland has the belief that they can send that nerdy looking kid out every draft and they get a 1st rd pick. So again I can't see them parting with that pick

Especially since they play mediocre and is not a lock for the playoffs even with this horrible east

[League Circles]

If Cowley is right that they're "$5-6M apart" I don't understand how they expect to re-sign him.

All it takes is Mark Cuban landing his jet in Chicago with a 4/60 contract and Deng is outie. It just seems like a dumb chance to take, especially if there's interest from several teams. There could be a scenario where Deng is the best player available at the trade deadline. Why not take advantage of that?

It's simple. The Bulls probably think that there is a slight chance that Deng won't get offers as high as he's expecting (13-16 million per year). The Bulls probably feel that that slight chance is worth waiting for. Maybe, especially with a 5 year offer, they can end up getting him for like 10 million per year. If you resign Deng to an extension right now, everyone will know that Boozer is 100% gone and any slight trade value he may have had will be gone.

The Bulls may know that they will likely have to pay Deng 13-15 million per year this summer, and feel that because they are willing to do that and confident Deng will re-sign if they give a competitive/best offer, there is no reason to re-sign him to an extension now and completely eliminate the even small chance that they can end up getting him for like 10-11 mil per year.

The Bulls just have no incentive to re-sign him early. For all the Bulls know, Deng is dying to stay (cause he likes Chicago? doesn't want to play for a bad team or in a bad city?), and is just bluffing (as a good agent would have him do) that he'll only sign for 14 a year, when in actuality he'd be willing to sign for 10 a year to stay here. I'm not saying it's the case, I'm saying basically that I think the Bulls want to re-sign him, no matter what it takes, but are wisely trying to tactically influence that amount to be as low as possible.

Also, I've said this a million times, but don't be surprised at all if the Bulls offer Deng a no-trade clause as a first offer to him this summer at like 9-11 million per year. It's really impossible to gauge how much value that will have to Deng. For a player who has dealt with trade rumors his whole career, to be guaranteed to spend 15 years in one of the few great NBA cities for one of the better organizations, who knows, he might value that at 2 million per year. And the no-trade clause cannot be offered right now per CBA rules. I have a feeling the Bulls are going to pull this out as a suprise tactic to try to get him to re-sign this summer for 9-12 million per year instead of 13-16. And then if he doesn't like that, then they'll probably say, OK, he's your 15 mil per year offer or whatever. The Bulls have a pretty well established history of letting the market set the price for players and then paying that market, yet not doing so preemptively. They publicly believe that early extensions are supposed to come at a discount for the team.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

According to a guy I know, the Bulls are talking to Phoenix and Cleveland about Deng for a 1st round 2014 pick. It's semi-reliable source.

Only teams I would imagine would part with they pick are teams destined to make the playoffs

I doubt Phoenix fits that

And clevleland has the belief that they can send that nerdy looking kid out every draft and they get a 1st rd pick. So again I can't see them parting with that pick

Especially since they play mediocre and is not a lock for the playoffs even with this horrible east

PHX has a total of 4 possible first round picks in this years draft - though at least 2 of them are likely to be protected and not conveyed.

[Red Larrivee]

It's simple. The Bulls probably think that there is a slight chance that Deng won't get offers as high as he's expecting (13-16 million per year). The Bulls probably feel that that slight chance is worth waiting for. Maybe, especially with a 5 year offer, they can end up getting him for like 10 million per year. If you resign Deng to an extension right now, everyone will know that Boozer is 100% gone and any slight trade value he may have had will be gone.

Deng isn't re-signing for $10 mllion per year.

Also, I've said this a million times, but don't be surprised at all if the Bulls offer Deng a no-trade clause as a first offer to him this summer at like 9-11 million per year. It's really impossible to gauge how much value that will have to Deng. For a player who has dealt with trade rumors his whole career, to be guaranteed to spend 15 years in one of the few great NBA cities for one of the better organizations, who knows, he might value that at 2 million per year. And the no-trade clause cannot be offered right now per CBA rules. I have a feeling the Bulls are going to pull this out as a suprise tactic to try to get him to re-sign this summer for 9-12 million per year instead of 13-16. And then if he doesn't like that, then they'll probably say, OK, he's your 15 mil per year offer or whatever. The Bulls have a pretty well established history of letting the market set the price for players and then paying that market, yet not doing so preemptively. They publicly believe that early extensions are supposed to come at a discount for the team.

A no-trade clause would be idiotic. He's Luol Deng, not Kobe Bryant.

[Ice the knees]

Oh god, Deng with a new contract and a no trade clause? Deng is a nice player but why would you do that to your team? Especially when the guy is injured some way literally every year. I really cannot imagine a worse scenario than a no trade clause. I would rather let him walk for nothing

[Evil_Headband]

This has been quite obvious. No news here.

[Evil_Headband]

The FO future plan seems very apparent. Re-sign Deng, amnesty Boozer, bring over Mirotic, hope Rose is healthy. I'm on board with this.

[MAQ]

Could just be leverage for trade talks. But if true you have to sign him. There is no in between here.

With you Duck...Either get something for him or retain him.

The FO has to learn from it's mistakes with Korver and Asik.