At the prospect of facing an entire season with Derrick Rose, all hell seems to be breaking loose in Chicago, as the Bulls look to re-tool while their fearless leader is rehabbing.
While revamping the roster will prove to be a necessity before Rose returns to action, the Bulls have officially crossed the line—the Luol Deng line to be exact.
From Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun Times:
The Bulls have had discussions with teams about trading Luol Deng for a chance to move into the lottery to pick up North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes in Thursday night’s draft.
While Hayes goes on to note, Chicago is simply following NBA offseason protocol, there’s an unsettling nature in their Deng explorations. The small forward is owed $27 million over the next two years, yet he’s fresh off a season in which he made the Eastern Conference All-Star team, and All-Stars aren’t cheap.
It has become abundantly clear that the Bulls are utterly concerned with finances moving forward, but should Deng become collateral damage, for an unproven player like Harrison Barnes no less? If Chicago isn’t getting a star or plethora of young talent in exchange for Deng, why not simply amnesty Carlos Boozer if money is that pressing of an issue? Or explore dealing Joakim Noah?
While each of the former has probably been explored that doesn’t excuse what’s happening here. Deng is an efficient scorer, tenacious rebounder, and arguably the Bulls’ best defender. How can you justify trading him now when the team needs him more than ever in the wake of Rose’s absence?
You can’t. I don’t care of the Bulls need to get more athletic, shipping Deng off in exchange for hopes of drafting Barnes is absurd. Sure, maybe Chicago lands in the top-7 or even the top-5 of the draft, but what if a team before it goes rogue and takes Barnes earlier than projected. Then the Bulls are on the clock without Barnes or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist available. What then?
Though we have to respect the Bulls opting to explore every avenue possibly available to them, realistically, there’s some roads that shouldn’t be explored, no matter how unlikely actually traveling down them is.
This isn’t a time for the Bulls to rebuild, it’s a time for them to fight to stay relevant until Rose returns. Upgrading the roster is a must, but a majority of that is going to have to be done next summer. Until then, though, Chicago has to be wary of the decisions it’s making.
At this point, with everything else that’s going on, trading Deng—Rose’s most reliable sidekicks—is reckless. Re-tooling a roster entails picking apart your week spots and turning them into strength. Deng isn’t a weak spot, he’s a glimmer of hope for next season.
And beyond.
Dan Favale is an avid basketball analyst and firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His work can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
