Well if the Bulls are sending a message to fans, it is a clear one. The last thread of hope for this season is gone. The Bulls have given up and are rebuilding for the future. Late last night the Bulls agreed to a trade sending star small forward Luol Deng to the Cavaliers in exchange for oft-injured center Andrew Bynum and draft picks. The move will save the Bulls considerable money in the near future, but I’m sure that’s not a huge consolation for Bulls fans….
The Cavs, looking to end a three-year playoff drought, are attempting to make a run by acquiring Deng to shore up the small forward position. They parlayed Bynum’s favorable contract into a piece to put next to young guards Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.
Deng, 28, is averaging 19 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 23 games. He has been bothered by an injured Achilles that caused him to miss nine games over the past six weeks. He has returned to play in the Bulls’ past three games. (via ESPN)
The Cavs who are currently playing without star Kyrie Irving are hoping this move will help them make a big run at the playoffs when he returns, in the wide open and weaker Eastern Conference.
Luol Deng’s contract is up at the end of the season, and the Bulls were obviously not optimistic at their prospects of getting a deal done. In fact, rumor out of the Yahoo! Sports camp last night has Deng apparently rejecting a $30M contract extension offer from the Bulls last week:
Luol Deng rejected a 3 year, $30 million extension with Bulls last week, league source tells Yahoo. Turned out to be prelude to trade.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 7, 2014
It will be interesting to see how Deng fares in Cleveland. It will certainly be fun to watch the Cavs tempo increase with Deng running the floor with Irving and Waiters.
Only time will tell how the trade pans out for both sides.
