Reason #1 >> Could have gotten more:
Teams have been seeking the services of Luol Deng for some time now. He is a two time All-star and doesn’t mind guarding the best player on the opposing team. That is a rare commodity in the NBA. He has value, and that’s why he didn’t sign the 30 million dollar extension with the Bulls.
Here is a complete list of all the NBA free agents for the 2014 and 2015 season. I find it hard to believe the Bulls couldn’t get a quality player to replace Deng. Why not trade him to the Indiana Pacers for Danny Granger?
Reason #2 >> Cap Space B.S:
The Bulls have guaranteed contracts to Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler. By trading Deng and then waiving Andrew Bynum, the Bulls will save money in the long run. The logic from the front office is that with the draft picks and the extra dough from the trade they can make an appealing offer to a big name free agent. But it is all B.S! The Bulls are not hurting for cash; they sell out all their games and continually get money from being a big market team that’s affiliated with the Michael Jordan era. Other big name teams such as the Knicks and the Lakers rarely play this role. I wrote an article called “Chicago will never get the man” that explains this mentality
Quick: Name me two superstars that the Bulls got through free agency? Shit! Name me one.
Reason #3 >> Tanking for the draft:
In 2008, the Bulls won the number one pick in the NBA draft despite only having a 1.7 chance of winning the slot. In the 1984 NBA draft they benefited from the Portland Trail Blazers picking Sam Bowie with the number two pick. The results were Derrick Rose and Michael Jordan respectively. The hope is that this year NBA draft will yield similar results. Maybe lady luck or David Stern will have their hands on the ping pong balls again and send Jabari Parker back to Chicago. I guess that makes more sense than keeping a proven commodity or trading for one. But if you think about it; do the Bulls really have to tank it to get in the lottery? Even without Luol Deng they might still make the playoffs; that’s how bad the Eastern Conference is. And even if they would have kept him, they still may have been a lottery bound team.