Deng, Bulls agree on 6-year deal

Bulls forward Luol Deng can breathe a sigh of relief. It's likely that Deng just became the richest Dinka to ever live, as the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson is reporting that Deng agreed to a 6-year contract worth up to $80M late Tuesday night.

General manager John Paxson will confirm Wednesday that the Bulls have reached agreement on a six-year deal with restricted free agent Luol Deng.

The deal, first reported by the Tribune and ESPN.com's Marc Stein, is worth a guaranteed $71 million, according to sources. Incentives could push the contract's value to $80 million, sources said.

Deng, 23, rejected a five-year, $57.5 million extension in October and then joined in the season-long funk and malaise that shrouded the Bulls' underwhelming 2007-08 season.

So with right around $8M left without going into the forbidden land of the luxury tax, the Bulls now have the task of figuring out what to do with guard Ben Gordon.


A lot of talk is going on - including Ben's threats that he might jump on the overseas bandwagon and play in Europe - but it appears that the Bulls will most likely try some sort of sign-and-trade with the streaky shooting guard.

Gordon appears to believe he deserves money equal to what Deng received, but not only would that put the Bulls over the cap, they'd be locking up a lot of money that could be used in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes. $80M to Ben Gordon would be a big mistake, there are plenty of undersized guards out there at a much lower price.

The question is, where could Gordon go in a sign-and-trade? Right now your guess is as good as anyone, but I'd be willing to be bet that if they do make a deal, a center will be coming back to the Bulls way.

If they don't trade Gordon, the Bulls can tender a one-year $6.4M deal that would allow Gordon to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2008-09 season. This is not something that's advantageous for either Gordon or the Bulls, but it may be the last resort if they fail to trade him.

All things Gordon aside, with Deng locked in for the long haul, the starting lineup is a promising combination of youthful explosiveness and veteran talent, and hopefully will only get better with pieces added before the start of the season.

G Derrick Rose
G Kirk Hinrich
F Luol Deng
F Tyrus Thomas
C Joakim Noah

Deng puts in his 2-weeks

If you were planning on buying a brand new Luol Deng #9 Bulls jersey before this season starts, you might want to hold off for a bit.

Yahoo! NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski reports today that Bulls forward Luol Deng says he will end contract talks with the Bulls in two weeks if nothing is agreed to before Deng leaves to play in the Olympics.

Deng is determined to come to terms on a long-term contract, but he has set an Aug. 4 deadline to reach an agreement. Once Deng, 23, leaves the country for the European Championship qualifying tournament, he will [sic] sign a one-year qualifying offer for $4.5 million and become an unrestricted free agent in 2009.

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.

When reached on Sunday, Deng’s agent, Jason Levien, would only say, “We continue to talk to the Bulls and remain hopeful that something can be accomplished.”

From what I've seen and heard from Luol in the past, he is not the type of guy to just casually threaten his employer. He has been very up front with Bulls management last season despite the lack of an extension and remains one of the core players from their original youth movement.

To lose Deng in a year for nothing in return would be one of John Paxson's worst failures as GM of the Bulls, and basically a terminable offense. Unless Jerry Reinsdorf is in full control of the situation, and it appears he is not, the Bulls need to come up with a contract that satisfies Deng and keeps the Bulls in the hunt for the 2010 free agency bonanza.

I think Deng is much more valuable than Ben Gordon, who also is in his own fight for the $$, and may very well be crafting his own 2-week ultimatum as I'm typing this. Deng has shown he can ball with the best, even during the playoffs (17.7/ 7.3/ 1.7), and shouldn't be regarded as just another hired hand that the Bulls can bully into agreeing to a less than fair deal.

We'll see today if the Bulls come back with a statement on Deng's posturing but they are officially on the clock and in a situation where Deng has the majority of the leverage.