Luol Deng Rumors: Dallas Mavericks may have priority over Miami Heat
By Josh Hill
The Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks seem to be after the same free agent in Luol Deng and it’s causing the free agent pipeline to clog up a bit. Things aren’t as clogged as they were with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, but Deng might be looking at another situation outside of Miami before agreeing to a deal.
More from Dallas Mavericks
- Grant Williams’ attempt to embarrass camper backfires hilariously
- NBA Rumors: Warriors, Lakers among contenders for key free agent
- Mavericks: Mark Cuban calls Kyrie Irving ‘misunderstood’ after new contract
- Why isn’t Matisse Thybulle on the Mavericks?
- The new NBA flopping rules explained
According to Sam Amick from USA Today, the Miami Heat remain a very real possibility for Deng but he may be holding out on them to see what happens in Dallas and if he might be able to get more money from the Mavericks.
Luol Deng to Miami is definitely a strong possibility, but I'm told he's weighing the lay of the land in Dallas first before deciding.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 13, 2014
This makes a lot of sense and Amick even follows this up by stating that it’s a money versus fit situation as while Deng can get more money from one team, he may end up fitting better with the other and vice versa.
With LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony off the market officially, the free agency landscape has shifted much int he way it was predicted to do. This very situation, where Deng is picking between the Mavericks and Heat, is the reason he didn’t agree to a deal with the Atlanta Hawks and is the reason why so many free agents decided to not agree to deals too early on in the process.
Be sure to stay tuned to FanSided.com throughout the remainder of the NBA Free Agency period for the latest news, rumors and signings from around the league.