The big payback
It appears Luol Deng has had it with the Bulls slow negotiating in getting him a max-deal.
Luol Deng turned down a 5 year $57.5 million deal last fall and than only played in 63 games as he battled injuries. He still was second on the team in scoring at 17 ppg and pulled in 6.3 rpg.
Jerry Reinsdorf hasn’t come close to that number this summer. He figures the team now has the leverage as of now, because the only team that can offer Deng more than the mid-level is the Memphis Grizzlies, who are trying to rid themselves of big contracts. If Deng doesn’t get the contract he wants before he begins play with the Great Britain national team in two weeks, than he is done with the Bulls.
The message to the Bulls promises to be implicit: Unless the two sides come to terms soon, Deng will never again negotiate with them. He will not let the uncertainty over his future hang over another basketball season, and unless a sign-and-trade is worked out, Deng will play out his final season in 2008-09 and sign elsewhere next summer.
Recently, negotiations with the Bulls’ restricted free agents, Deng and guard Ben Gordon, took a dramatic turn when owner Jerry Reinsdorf decided to take over the talks himself. The Bulls made offers of $57.5 million and $50 million to Deng and Gordon last summer, but both players turned down those deals. Deng changed representation and hired Levien, who scored a five-year, $55 million extension for Sacramento’s Kevin Martin last year.
Source: Yahoo! Sports and www.dimemag.com
I have been saying for some time that Jerry Reinsdorf is now calling the shots for this team. He waited too long to extend an offer to former Phoenix Suns and new Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, he also hired new Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro after one interview. With Reinsdorf now running the negotiating, I don’t know what’s going to happen, because this is a guy that doesn’t like dealing with agents. I thought Luol was a sure shot to be back with the team, but now I’m not sure. The most aggressive teams in a sign and trade deal are the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat.
If I’m Luol Deng, I’m angry for not signing that deal last fall, knowing that the organization doesn’t go out of their pockets that often. I’m also confused as to why he hasn’t been offered that deal again if he has been billed as the cornerstone of this team. Trades for Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were passed up, simply because Deng was involved and now, it looks like we may lose him.
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4 Responses to “The big payback”
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Yeah, sounds like you may lose him, and for much less.
It’s amazing what one season can do to a franchise. Last off-season, the Bulls were considered a top team in the East, and that might have went to some peoples head, especially the players. Deng and Gordon started to believe they were “franchise players”; and while they are both really good players, neither are that good.
I think they’re both stupid for turning down the offers they did. Both offers were more than fair. Although, they’re plenty of fools around in the NBA, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see another team drop some large dollars on either of them. But I still wouldn’t it imagine being much more than what the Bulls offered a year ago.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
True story. If Mr. Riensdorf is dealing the the situation now, he has the upper hand and i both players should have signed those contracts last fall because they couldn’t have thought going into this free agent period or the next, that teams were going to spend anymore on them, especially with the start they always have to the season.
Everyone knows that Ben Gordon has been on the trading block for sometime now and i expected him to be having this problem, not Deng.
The only consolation i can think of us getting is shawn marion and his expiring contract or Ronnie Brewer from the Jazz, other than that, we’re going to be losing a valuable piece for some role players.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Both of these guys are good players, but neither one is a star. I think they are both arrogant and more than a little full of themselves if they think they are likely to get much more elsewhere. Especially after last years atrocity.
There is nothing wrong with giving a player a big contract - provided that he comes to work and earns it every single day, games and practice. Neither Gordon or Deng inspires confidence that he is that sort of player.
That said, the Bulls are a team in complete chaos. I hoped that getting the first pick in the draft would turn them around, but they still seem to be a circus. As it stands it does not look good when the owner over rules his GM, and it makes me wonder if maybe these players simply don’t want out?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Great points Tom.
Both Gordon and Deng may have thought, they would see that money again, and maybe even some more of it. With everyone’s weaknesses being heavily exposed through last season, it became evident that those contracts wouldn’t be offered again.
Deng and Gordon are very good players who can be so much better than what they are. One thing I’m scared of is losing either one and than seeing them blossom in another system.
I believe the Bulls still have options within the next two years, http://www.examiner.com/x-490-Chicago-Bulls-Examiner ,but the Bulls are still rebuilding and with a new system in place, there will be a feeling out period as to who is best fitted for this system.
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