Bulls Might Now Be More Likely To Trade Luol Deng

[League Circles]

The point to trade Deng is to make our own pick a lottery, who cares what the pick is Deng lands you. Nikola IMO looks like a good #2 guy, definitely a #3. You land an offensively gifted player this draft and with Rose, Nikola and that guy I don't see a total rebuild process and that team would be back to it's winning ways next year.

Frankly with Butler and MDJ in the fold, I don't see Deng being gone as being more than maybe a 3 position swing in the draft position. I don't really see drafted a (relatively) gifted offensive player this year in the draft. I mean, say we pick 10th. There are going to be 9 players better than ours. Thus, relatively speaking, ours isn't going to be that great. And as an immediate core piece and starter the player will most likely be irrelevent. I think we'll be back to winning ways next year no matter what, but I want to maximize our chances for titles during Rose's contract, and I don't think inserting late lottery 20 year olds into our core is the best way to do that. Hell, give me Ben Gordon over like a #13 pick. If Deng is gone regardless I want an NBA player for him, whether it's somebody like Jeremy Lamb, Dion Waiters, Ben McLemore, MKG, Demarr Derozen, Pau Gasol, Josh Smith, etc, I'm fine. Next year is going to be hard enough getting Rose back up to speed without asking him to play with multiple 20 year olds, none of whom were elite talents in their class.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

You are grossly overvaluing a guy who will be gone in 5 months. Deng has 0% chance of returning next year. We either trade him for a protected 1st or we keep him which improves the Bulls win total and walks for nothing.

It's quite simple if you ask me, we need to dump any player that has no long term future with us and get a lottery pick this year.

I'm just saying what I'd do. The Bulls being stubborn and stupid enough to not even consider scenarios where it might end up making sense to keep him doesn't change me wanting them to do something different.

I don't think we can afford a rebuild. I think it has to be a retool. And dumping Deng for a pick that very well might be a mid first rounder in 2015 (because maybe it ends up protected this year and we don't get it) greatly delays our success IMO and screws us IMO. We already have young assets in the pipeline in Mirotic and the Charlotte pick. I'm not interested in effectively losing two years of Deng (2014-15 and 2015-16) for a guy who won't contribute during that time in a positive way to winning most likely. Having three or four 20 year olds as part of our rotation is almost a sure fire way to not compete seriously for a title during Rose's contract IMO, which in turn is almost a surefire way to lose him at the end of that contract.

Now trading Deng for a guy already in the NBA and contributing is more what I want. It might not be a prospective star, but it could end up being a long term starter for us. I'd consider packaging Jimmy with him because I don't really wan to extend Jimmy right now. A deal I like is Deng and Jimmy for Ben Gordon and MKG or something like that.

The point to trade Deng is to make our own pick a lottery, who cares what the pick is Deng lands you. Nikola IMO looks like a good #2 guy, definitely a #3. You land an offensively gifted player this draft and with Rose, Nikola and that guy I don't see a total rebuild process and that team would be back to it's winning ways next year.

Yeah but Nikola is going to be a bust because he doesn't have a 40 inch vert.

[Payt10]

This is the right draft where you could potentially find a Paul George, Michael Carter Williams, Tracy McGrady type of guy with picks between 6-14. As I mentioned before, It's not a 1 or 2 man draft. Having multiple first rounders in this draft is critical for a rebuild.

[Googjob]

Most of you have overvalued Deng to a ridiculous degree. No one is giving back young talent for him. At best you're looking at a heavily protected 1st round pick in the future. There are few teams who would want him at this point and even fewer who can make a trade work.

I'd like to turn Deng into something, but I just don't see any realistic options. Noah is their best asset, followed by Butler at the moment.

[Ralphb07]

The point to trade Deng is to make our own pick a lottery, who cares what the pick is Deng lands you. Nikola IMO looks like a good #2 guy, definitely a #3. You land an offensively gifted player this draft and with Rose, Nikola and that guy I don't see a total rebuild process and that team would be back to it's winning ways next year.

Frankly with Butler and MDJ in the fold, I don't see Deng being gone as being more than maybe a 3 position swing in the draft position. I don't really see drafted a (relatively) gifted offensive player this year in the draft. I mean, say we pick 10th. There are going to be 9 players better than ours. Thus, relatively speaking, ours isn't going to be that great. And as an immediate core piece and starter the player will most likely be irrelevent. I think we'll be back to winning ways next year no matter what, but I want to maximize our chances for titles during Rose's contract, and I don't think inserting late lottery 20 year olds into our core is the best way to do that. Hell, give me Ben Gordon over like a #13 pick. If Deng is gone regardless I want an NBA player for him, whether it's somebody like Jeremy Lamb, Dion Waiters, Ben McLemore, MKG, Demarr Derozen, Pau Gasol, Josh Smith, etc, I'm fine. Next year is going to be hard enough getting Rose back up to speed without asking him to play with multiple 20 year olds, none of whom were elite talents in their class.

I 100% disagree with you. First we have no MARCO or NATE like last year. That is going to hurt us big time. 2nd there was always hope Derrick would return, not the case this year. Also you trade Deng and Snell plays 25 minutes a night now. Also you have to count injuries. Overall losing Deng and Rose this team misses the playoffs.

[League Circles]

Oladipo is going to be a stud.

Yeah him and a couple other guys from every team in the league, plus a dozen guys in the draft. They can't, and won't, all be studs. Many of them won't ever be starters, let along good starters.

I think often these discussions break down at the level of language, with different posters meaning different things using the same terms. To me, a "stud" isn't a Oladipo, MKG, Jimmy Butler type player. It's a Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker type guy. Those are the future all-stars in this league. Every team has guys they are high on like Oladipo. I'm not saying he sucks or that he won't have value, but in this league I think there is about a 5% chance that he becomes a consistent all-star caliber talent.

[League Circles]

This is the right draft where you could potentially find a Paul George, Michael Carter Williams, Tracy McGrady type of guy with picks between 6-14. As I mentioned before, It's not a 1 or 2 man draft. Having multiple first rounders in this draft is critical for a rebuild.

Maybe you're right. Frankly I know nothing of college hoops. But unless the GMs do a poor job of evaluation (which of course they might I admit), even getting a quality guy in that range - you're still behind the teams getting higher quality guys in the top 5. It's like, how much value is a "really nice player" at say #12 if he's the 17th best at his position in the NBA after 3 years?

[JohnnyKILLroy]

Oladipo is going to be a stud.

Yeah him and a couple other guys from every team in the league, plus a dozen guys in the draft. They can't, and won't, all be studs. Many of them won't ever be starters, let along good starters.

I think often these discussions break down at the level of language, with different posters meaning different things using the same terms. To me, a "stud" isn't a Oladipo, MKG, Jimmy Butler type player. It's a Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker type guy. Those are the future all-stars in this league. Every team has guys they are high on like Oladipo. I'm not saying he sucks or that he won't have value, but in this league I think there is about a 5% chance that he becomes a consistent all-star caliber talent.

Oladipo was voted the front runner for ROY before the season began and was voted the most bust proof/favorite player in last year's draft.

By NBA General Managers, but hey what to they know?

[Ralphb07]

I'm just saying what I'd do. The Bulls being stubborn and stupid enough to not even consider scenarios where it might end up making sense to keep him doesn't change me wanting them to do something different.

I don't think we can afford a rebuild. I think it has to be a retool. And dumping Deng for a pick that very well might be a mid first rounder in 2015 (because maybe it ends up protected this year and we don't get it) greatly delays our success IMO and screws us IMO. We already have young assets in the pipeline in Mirotic and the Charlotte pick. I'm not interested in effectively losing two years of Deng (2014-15 and 2015-16) for a guy who won't contribute during that time in a positive way to winning most likely. Having three or four 20 year olds as part of our rotation is almost a sure fire way to not compete seriously for a title during Rose's contract IMO, which in turn is almost a surefire way to lose him at the end of that contract.

Now trading Deng for a guy already in the NBA and contributing is more what I want. It might not be a prospective star, but it could end up being a long term starter for us. I'd consider packaging Jimmy with him because I don't really wan to extend Jimmy right now. A deal I like is Deng and Jimmy for Ben Gordon and MKG or something like that.

The point to trade Deng is to make our own pick a lottery, who cares what the pick is Deng lands you. Nikola IMO looks like a good #2 guy, definitely a #3. You land an offensively gifted player this draft and with Rose, Nikola and that guy I don't see a total rebuild process and that team would be back to it's winning ways next year.

Yeah but Nikola is going to be a bust because he doesn't have a 40 inch vert.

Funny, Nikola is going to be real good for us.

[Ralphb07]

This is the right draft where you could potentially find a Paul George, Michael Carter Williams, Tracy McGrady type of guy with picks between 6-14. As I mentioned before, It's not a 1 or 2 man draft. Having multiple first rounders in this draft is critical for a rebuild.

Maybe you're right. Frankly I know nothing of college hoops. But unless the GMs do a poor job of evaluation (which of course they might I admit), even getting a quality guy in that range - you're still behind the teams getting higher quality guys in the top 5. It's like, how much value is a "really nice player" at say #12 if he's the 17th best at his position in the NBA after 3 years?

Harrison, Harris, Hood and Young are four guys to look at in the 8-14 range who can be good. Of course getting a top 5 pick would be ideal with Parker, Wiggins, Randle, Exum and Smart but this draft is a draft where 8-14 can land you a nice offensive gifted player.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

The point to trade Deng is to make our own pick a lottery, who cares what the pick is Deng lands you. Nikola IMO looks like a good #2 guy, definitely a #3. You land an offensively gifted player this draft and with Rose, Nikola and that guy I don't see a total rebuild process and that team would be back to it's winning ways next year.

Yeah but Nikola is going to be a bust because he doesn't have a 40 inch vert.

Funny, Nikola is going to be real good for us.

I got another one for you. Shooting is not a skill that translates over seas. Once you cross the Atlantic all bets are off.

[Ralphb07]

Yeah but Nikola is going to be a bust because he doesn't have a 40 inch vert.

Funny, Nikola is going to be real good for us.

I got another one for you. Shooting is not a skill that translates over seas. Once you cross the Atlantic all bets are off.

This one is even better than the 40 inch vertical

[joshcxa]

I probably have missed this because I haven't read the entire thread, but realistically, what sort of teams would trade for Deng when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season?

[Googjob]

I 100% disagree with you. First we have no MARCO or NATE like last year. That is going to hurt us big time. 2nd there was always hope Derrick would return, not the case this year. Also you trade Deng and Snell plays 25 minutes a night now. Also you have to count injuries. Overall losing Deng and Rose this team misses the playoffs.

Who makes it over the Bulls? Even without Deng and Rose, this team is still the 6th or 7th best team in the conference.

[Ralphb07]

I 100% disagree with you. First we have no MARCO or NATE like last year. That is going to hurt us big time. 2nd there was always hope Derrick would return, not the case this year. Also you trade Deng and Snell plays 25 minutes a night now. Also you have to count injuries. Overall losing Deng and Rose this team misses the playoffs.

Who makes it over the Bulls? Even without Deng and Rose, this team is still the 6th or 7th best team in the conference.

Washington, Cleveland NYK and BK all could if we get rid of Deng, especially if Deng goes to Cleveland or Washington.

[Googjob]

Washington, Cleveland NYK and BK all could if we get rid of Deng, especially if Deng goes to Cleveland or Washington.

Brooklyn is 3-10 and on the verge of imploding. New York is 3-9 and missing their best defensive player for another couple months. Cleveland will likely be 4-11 after tonight and look abysmal offensively. You're assuming all 3 of those teams have a massive turnaround which I find unlikely. And even if that all happens, the Bulls still fall into the 8th seed and miss the lottery.

[JohnnyKILLroy]

Looks like Derrick Williams is about to get traded with SAC-NYK-BKN-UTAH the most likely suspects.

They could run him at the 3 if they think he can play there.

Or it's us for Deng? Yeah right....

[blumeany]

Moving Deng for assets is a no-brainer. Look at the cap:

Rose is making a **** of money, and it only becomes more over time, he's a big chunk of your cap.
Boozer is next, and qualifies for amnesty if you can't move him. He offers flexibility in that way.
Next is Deng, who is most likely NOT going to take a major pay cut.
Then there's Noah, who's going to make more as well.
Finally, Taj.

Everyone else is on a small deal or a short-term deal. Jimmy will be up for a new contract in a few seasons as well. Mirotic will take up a chunk of your cap.

This FO would be absolute fools to stick with this current core. It is not going to end well. It's like what the Bears did with their defense, blindly assuming things will just hum along for at least one more season. Didn't happen.

[whitehops]

I've seen some people name Caldwell-pope in some packages with Villanueva or stuckey, but I assure you the pistons would never go for that.

as great as KCP would be on the bulls (he's an absolute pitbull on defense) the pistons are short on guards and shooters as it is and KCP has looked promising.

[Mech Engineer]

I know everyone is looking at the Bulls roster how a kid looks at a Christmas toy wrapping and want to rip it apart right now.

But, if the Bulls plan is to retool....should they keep Deng or Noah? I know Deng and Butler play similar positions. But, Deng's game is almost like an old man's game with rebounding, slashing and some shooting and less dependent on quickness. Not to mention all his experience and age. He is still in his prime even though he has logged a lot of minutes which is only in the last few years(the extra minutes).

His problem is ball handling and if the Bulls are going to contend in 2015-16 with Derrick, Charlotte pick, Mirotic and another good offensive player...we can assume the skill-sets of those players will be a lot different than the ones the Bulls have. If Deng can be a stabilizer, 3rd option type, veteran leader for the Wizards or Kings in 2015, why will he not be the same for the Bulls. Not to mention, Noah with other pieces might fetch a better piece than Deng would fetch.