Luol Deng’s Representative Denies Rumors Chicago Bulls are Pursuing Contract Extension
By Josh Hill
Yesterday it was reported that the Chicago Bulls were engaged in contract negotiations with All-Star forward Luol Deng and were in the process of extending him. Adrian Wojnarowoski was the first to report on the extension talks and ESPN Chicago’s Nick Fridell was the first to pump the brakes on said report, saying Deng’s representative denied talks had begun.
It’s very likely that the Bulls have indeed not talked to Deng since Jerry Reinsdorf is usually first trying to find a way to offer his players the least amount of money as humanly possible. Remember last season that the Bulls gutted their Bench Mob in an effort to save pennies and ended up paying more money to replace them with lesser players.
Friedell points out that once again though it seems Deng will be the focus of the Bulls offseason plans and what happens to him impacts greatly what happens elsewhere on the roster. The ESPN Chicago guru states that if the Bulls get both Deng and Carlos Boozer off the books, they’ll have roughly $20 million to play with next summer which is a summer the Bulls have been pushing for a long time.
If Deng stays though, Friedell fears that the Bulls will not have the type of money they need to build the team they’ve been selling to fans and the results could blow up in their face.
A lot can happen in the future and there may be ways the Bulls can fit Deng into their future but he’ll need to drastically reduce his $14 million salary and the emergence of young Jimmy Butler continues to make Deng’s future with the team in very cloudy doubt.