Red Larrivee wrote:Deng isn't re-signing for $10 mllion per year.
A no-trade clause would be idiotic. He's Luol Deng, not Kobe Bryant.
A wise organization wouldn't assume that to be 100% certain. If he's left with only an offer to play in Cleveland "nobody ever went on vacation to Cleveland" Ohio for $12 million per year, and the Bulls offer him $10 mil a year with a no-trade clause, maybe he takes that. Then they've saved 4 million per year vs what he's wanting to extend right now. That would be a huge plus for the Bulls. I don't really understand the notion that only superstar players should get no-trade clauses. Any player that is likely to be a rotation quality player for the life of a contract (which Deng surely projects to be) should be considered for a no-trade clause if they are eligible (few are per the CBA), as long as the discount over their market rate is enough to justify it. It's the same reason other financial instruments can be better deals with more commitment. Flexibility costs money. It's not something I'm suggesting they would throw at him for no reason as a perk of some sorts. I envision the Bulls making two offers. One with a no-trade clause, and one without one for probably 3 million more per year. A no-trade clause is also a major respect and prestige thing for players. Deng would go down as the longest tenured player ever for one of the most storied franchises in the NBA.
Just because it is very unlikely he'd resign for 10 million doesn't mean it should be discounted by Bulls management. That's just bad business. Simply put, the Bulls have ZERO incentive to re-sign him now, and Deng only has incentive to re-sign now if it's for like 15 million a year. If the Bulls can draft Parker or Wiggins by chance, surely they have more leverage to get Deng at a lower price. It's easy to project that Deng will have 15 mil per year offers now, and of course that is the likely outcome. But if he misses enough games this year due to injury, and/or his potential suitors maybe have unexpected alternative options, and/or Deng secretly is desperate to stay here for personal reasons, well any of those could bring about the small chance that the Bulls get him as a bargain. If the Bulls are secretly willing to pay basically whatever it takes for him up to like 16 mil a year or so, which I think is somewhat likely, they would have no fears going into the summer, and it wouldn't bother them that getting Deng at a much cheaper rate is a long shot. No way the Bulls lose on that strategy. The absolute worst case scenario is that somebody offers him an obscene 17-18 million per year or something and we missed out on having a 4th rookie next year with the mid first rounder we could have traded for him. Big deal. We could probably sign a better player than the rookie with the cap space anyway.
