Luol Deng

Luol Deng's out with a stress fracture for awhile now, and the Bulls have played quite well in his absence. The shortened rotation has worked out well, and bringing Deng back into the mix could threaten chemistry.

I know you can never have too much talent, and our guys could use the rest, but do you think Luol coming back helps or hurts the Bulls run towards the playoffs?

I think it helps. I know the Bulls haven't missed him but he's still a good player.

Now I think he would have to come off the bench. I mean if Derrick needs to be eased back in after missing just 1 game, then Deng should come of the bench for the rest of the season and postseason.

I think the Bulls would be better off with him back.

Kush77 wrote:

I think it helps. I know the Bulls haven't missed him but he's still a good player.

Now I think he would have to come off the bench. I mean if Derrick needs to be eased back in after missing just 1 game, then Deng should come of the bench for the rest of the season and postseason.

I think the Bulls would be better off with him back.

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+1

I think Luol gets a raw deal because of his oversized contract. But he's still a fundamentally good player with a great team game. it's not like he's Larry Hughes who's overpaid and bad, Luol's overpaid but good.

collisrost wrote:

Kush77 wrote:

I think it helps. I know the Bulls haven't missed him but he's still a good player.

Now I think he would have to come off the bench. I mean if Derrick needs to be eased back in after missing just 1 game, then Deng should come of the bench for the rest of the season and postseason.

I think the Bulls would be better off with him back.

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+1

I think Luol gets a raw deal because of his oversized contract. But he's still a fundamentally good player with a great team game. it's not like he's Larry Hughes who's overpaid and bad, Luol's overpaid but good.

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And the thing is, I was perfectly fine with his contract. I thought for a guy that was supposed to (and still might, I'm not totally giving up on him) give us 18 and 8, and shoot close to 50%, I had no problem with the deal. It's the injury thing that's driving me nuts. It looks like it's always going to be an issue. Like I've said a bunch of times, he's the Kerry Wood and Mike Brown of the Bulls.

I feel that if Luol is not atleast 90% healthy we should tell him to end it however this is with the notion that Tim Thomas is healthy. Having both of them hurt doesn't bold well for us come playoff time. I know Luol is on a much higher level than Tim in talent but having Tim get some time would help ease the burden of Luol being out.

We gotta remember that Luol was not playing all that well even before he had to sit out due to injuries this season. I don't recall him being majorly injured in the early part of the season when he was just not playing like himself.

I've heard the argument that it's because of Vinnie catering the offense to Rose and not to Luol, which has some legitimacy. But this makes it all the more unfair to blame Luol for the fact that his employer liked him enough to give him a big contract and then didn't use his talents effectively.

This year it's kinda too bad he's injured right before the playoffs, but he's not being used right anyway so I guess it's not as big a loss as his talent and contract indicate. I think we have to take a long-term view on Luol and his injury. Long term he's going to be fine. fingers crossed.

I think if he returns it has to be via the bench. No way can you bench Salmons, and I don't think you take the step to bench Gordon to put Deng back in there. Not given how the two have played this season.

collisrost wrote:

We gotta remember that Luol was not playing all that well even before he had to sit out due to injuries this season. I don't recall him being majorly injured in the early part of the season when he was just not playing like himself.

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+1

I think that it is too late for him to be 're-introduced' into what seems to be a good team chemistry, Even if he's 100% fit, at them minimum he should come off the bench, but he just wasn't anywhere as good as we expected to start with.

Deng ,although having a horrid shooting season and not nearly living up to his contract, is still a very good defender and rebounder. Both things that we've been laking of late. Deng coming off the bench and taking Tim's minutes is a big improvement. That way we won't be forced to use this constant 3 guard line up and play with some size with salmons at the two and deng at the 3.

As long as they aren't going to force him back just because his last name is Deng. If he's just taking spot minutes away from Tim Thomas then that's fine by me.

As soon as the Bulls are locked into a playoff spot and can't move up or down anymore, put Deng in the starting line-up and run as many plays for him as you can. Push for him to get 25 or even 30 a game. In the playoffs give him as much burn as possible, while also making sure Rose, Tyrus and Noah get as many minutes as they can play. Then in the summer find some sucker to take him off the Bulls hands. An expiring would do. An expiring + a pick would be awesome. I heard Isiah might take over the Clippers, and even if he doesn't, Dunleavy is dumb enough to trade Camby for him.

Then focus on moving Hinrich. I heard Kidd might go to the Cavs, so the Mavs will need a PG. If I get Camby from the Clippers, I'd send Hinrich and (if necessary) Noah for Dampier's unguaranteed 2010-2011 salary.

If you this, then it's loads of capspace for 2010. I'd roll the dice on that. Have some people in the press write articles about how great it would be to have Rose/Wade/Lebron on the same team. Have this popping up in the media every week. And then hope they got the message. Oh, and hire a damn good coach.

If things work out, you can probably keep Camby and Miller for peanuts and then you have Rose/Wade/Lebron/Tyrus/Camby with Salmons and Miller off the bench. And I think you'd get lots of FA's calling you offering to play for the vets' min.

The risks would be great, but the rewards even bigger. With Wade the oldest of the main cast at 28 in 2010, you'd have at least 4-5 years to rule the league. You can replace Camby and Miller with other veterans when they can no longer contribute. If you make smart picks and trades you could extend that time frame to 8-10 years, cause as Wade declines you'd expect Rose to step up and Lebron should be just as good at 33-34 as he is now.

Anything that could get you three stars would be great, but I think the odds of that are near zero. Wade will almost certainly sign an extension with Miami this summer taking him out of the picture all together.

LeBron may or may not do the same.

I'd settle for Lebron alone, but if Lebron comes and you still have capspace, I'm pretty sure you can get another good FA as well. Even Bosh. I still think that Lebron and Wade might do something together. They are good, they get along well and they have a lot of business sense. Them together winning title after title in a big market would be great for their legacy as well as for their bank accounts. And I think they are unselfish enough to actually pull that off. I for one know I'd love to see them playing together.

I'd be so surprised if one team ends up with two of the three stars in the LeBron sweepstakes. Apparently, Bosh has said Chicago is his choice, we know Wade is a god in Miami, and LeBron will go to a big market period. Most likely NY.

It would take a lot to get those three on the same team. In fact, I consider it impossible.

Those 3 stars weren't Lebron, Wade and Bosh, but Rose + 2 of those 3.

dunkside.com wrote:

I'd settle for Lebron alone, but if Lebron comes and you still have capspace, I'm pretty sure you can get another good FA as well. Even Bosh. I still think that Lebron and Wade might do something together. They are good, they get along well and they have a lot of business sense. Them together winning title after title in a big market would be great for their legacy as well as for their bank accounts. And I think they are unselfish enough to actually pull that off. I for one know I'd love to see them playing together.

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I'd take LeBron alone too. The question will be what does LeBron want to do. Any team with LeBron and something decent will be a perennial threat to win the title. We have something decent to put around him. However, will he want to come here vs staying in cleveland vs going to NY?

Part of your original argument was that we could focus a lot of power in one city which would attract more stars. I think there is some validity to that argument, but if several stars are locked up in the off season then you can no longer do that. On top of which, the key part will be attracting the first start.

I think if we could trade for Bosh in the summer, that it'd really help us lure someone in 2010 if we still had money left, though if we traded for Bosh the odds of us still having money left are near zero, so I suppose that's a catch 22.

Morten Jensen wrote:

I'd be so surprised if one team ends up with two of the three stars in the LeBron sweepstakes. Apparently, Bosh has said Chicago is his choice, we know Wade is a god in Miami, and LeBron will go to a big market period. Most likely NY.

It would take a lot to get those three on the same team. In fact, I consider it impossible.

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I wouldn't be surprised if 2 of them landed in the same city if they all hit FA.

Say Bosh hits FA, and LeBron stays in Cleveland who will have Mo Williams, LeBron, and enough cap space to make a max deal to Bosh. I think Bosh would sign there for sure. That threesome would be unstoppable or pretty close to it.

dougthonus wrote:

Morten Jensen wrote:

I'd be so surprised if one team ends up with two of the three stars in the LeBron sweepstakes. Apparently, Bosh has said Chicago is his choice, we know Wade is a god in Miami, and LeBron will go to a big market period. Most likely NY.

It would take a lot to get those three on the same team. In fact, I consider it impossible.

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I wouldn't be surprised if 2 of them landed in the same city if they all hit FA.

Say Bosh hits FA, and LeBron stays in Cleveland who will have Mo Williams, LeBron, and enough cap space to make a max deal to Bosh. I think Bosh would sign there for sure. That threesome would be unstoppable or pretty close to it.

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which is why trading for bosh might not be a smart move.
if bulls have bosh and no extra capspace, or even if they have the capspace, but lebron decides he wants to stay in cleveland, what do you think bosh does ? i think lebron will be key. lebron and wade. bosh will most likely follow one of them, he'll be a second banana on one of their teams. (unless lebron and wade decide to play together and eat up all the cap space of one team).

don't forget that not only cleveland will have cap space. for some reason people seem to forget about miami. pat riley is not chopped liver. i wouldn't be too surprised if one of lebron or bosh ended up with the heat. in fact, if lebron doesn't win a title this season and misses the finals too, he might think he gave cleveland his best try and just start over somewhere else.

it would be fun if none of them signed extensions.
and it would be even better if one team got 2 of them.

I think it can hurt our current run if he comes back. He takes minutes away from players who are playing extremely well right now.

And I agree you can never have too much talent. But Luol doesn't have enough talent to warrant keeping him on his current contract.

Heres the thing with the three stars you won't be able to get them all in 2010. Down the road I think you could have chance at getting Howard if you could dump Deng