Bulls Talk on Stalled Luol Deng Contract Talks

Luol Deng

The Bulls Charge posted this on the Google+ Chicago Bulls Fans community:  

NEW COLUMN: Contract Talks with Luol Deng have stalled and he says he will go through the free agency process next year. Here are my thoughts on the whole situation:  Contract Talks With Luol Deng Have Stalled.

He (I assume TBC is a he) and I had quite an exchange last week:

I really like Luol, too, but so many things are working against him now, as you point out: for me, the biggest being the rising (and lower cost) talent of Butler. It is a good decision for Forman to wait and for Deng to test the market. Would Deng stay with the Bulls for a 'hometown discount' (hmm)? 

That's the polarizing thing. I would think that yes, he would stay, but he seems adamant to get his money. Isn't this the time in most guys' careers they sacrifice for the team to get a ring? 

Yeah, you're right. Right now, it seems the Luol camp is reacting to Bulls' position, and they're at odds with one another. But let's see how the season goes, and how Luol plays. Thibs is really high on him, so maybe he'll have an influence on his decision to stay.

The Bulls will be a much better team this year, of course, with Derrick back and Dunleavy at the arc. But I just don't see them beating the Heat or even the Pacers for the East title. LeBron will continue to elevate his game, for sure, but if Wade keeps hobbling on his knees, then the Bulls may have a chance. The Bulls have got the Heat's number during the regular season the last three years, but they don't have enough to beat them in a playoff series. 

The only team I worry about is Miami. You should read my article here on the Bulls offense and why it should be better:  The Rejuvenated Offense of the Chicago Bulls: Coming Soon - 10/5/13

I think this is going to be the most dynamic offense of the Thibs era, but I also showed some (to me) shocking statistics about the Pacers. They had a worse FG% than the Bulls last year. Imagine that! I'm not 100% sold on the Pacers, but I agree they can be a threat. Granger is on bad knees now, Scola is a defensive threat, and CJ Watson won't move the needle much. I'm still more concerned with Miami. I believe we're better than Indiana for sure and all the rest of the East.

Good article! Derrick has a lot of questions hanging over him, and we all have to wait until the season opener for him to begin answering them. We can expect the Thibodeau offense to remain largely predicated on defense (e.g., offensive rebounds, for easy second-chance points). But my sense is that he's learning the offensive game better (e.g., drawing on Nate's fearless shooting). So, I agree with you, we should see better offensive numbers and maybe even better point-differentials.

I don't follow the Pacers, but they sure gave the Heat a run for their money deep in the playoffs last year. If I recall correctly, Frank Vogel made some play-calling mistakes that cost them one or two games. Also, I believe they have height and athleticism, which make them a difficult matchup for the Heat and any other team (even with the poor shooting). Let's see what kind of improvements they will make.

As for the Heat, if the Bulls can keep their relative domination during the regular season, then here's what I'm thinking, going into the 2014 playoffs: Thibodeau will have had four full seasons, plus two playoff series to study up on how to outcoach Spoelstra. We already know Thibodeau is very smart and competitive. So if the Bulls have a solid, healthy regular season (maybe a 57-win campaign), then watch out: They'll be gunning for the Heat in the East!

Absolutely agree with everything you said. Well put. The Pacers stats were astonishing to me. We want to put them on the pedestal for the run they gave Miami last year and their "improvements" of Luis Scola, Granger and his bad knees, and CJ Watson aren't bad, but they aren't enormous. But we need to remember the East was relatively weak last year. There was a lot of questions about who would emerge as the second best team. The Pacers finally did, but it was literally up for grabs. I think the Bulls and the Heat should be the heavy favorites for the Eastern Finals this season. I think the Bulls have made some savvy moves to improve this team since 2012 and should be the best Thibodeau-era team to date. They're literally 8 deep and possibly 9 or 10 depending on Teague's development and Snell's opportunities. We finally have a complete starting 5 with Butler at SG and a solid bench with Taj, Kirk, and Dunleavy. I'm really excited for this season.

I've been focusing mostly on the Bears and the Hawks, but, man, you got me convinced and excited about the Bulls, too!

I read your article "The Tom Thibodeau," and no question about it, he's the best coach the Bulls have said, since the Zen Master, of course. Winning Coach-of-the-Year in his rookie season was amazing confirmation of how great he was. Plus, the 7-game series against the Nets was sublime. But I have a question for you: Is he going to manage minutes-per-game better this year?

There were a lot of injuries in this second season (2011-2012) - when Derrick missed a third of the games, and of course went down hard in the first playoff game; and there were a lot of injuries late in the season and playoffs last year.

I am concerned that (a) he wears down his players and (b) his training staff aren't doing all the right things. What do you think? 

Glad I could get you excited! It should be an awesome year.

Everything you brought up are all the question marks Bulls fans should be worried about. Here's my hunch: Management has probably talked to him about it and I'm sure Thibs, being as smart as he is, has considered it. He's going to have to rely on his bench more. That will be a given. I think in particular Rose and Deng will see less action and hover around the 35-36 minute mark and Noah will be around 30 per game.

As far as the training staff, they just made a hire for a new physical therapist. I know very little about her, but it seems that the Bulls organization is taking that into account. I think we'll see a much healthier season this year and I think Rose will be back to his healthy self as well. The 2011-12 season was brutal on everyone, but Rose/Thibs demand so much that it was a given he was going to shatter eventually with the condensed schedule. I expect our health to be good this year.

Man, that's great info you provide! Good news, all around. 

Appreciate the compliment!

Seriously, man, I've got your site bookmarked, so I can study up on the Bulls! 

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD