NBA Free Agency: 5 best fits for Luol Deng

Luol Deng could find himself a strong fit in 2016 NBA free agency.

2016 will go down as one of the more wild free agent seasons in NBA history. The group of free agents is not all that strong (assuming Kevin Durant stays with the Thunder). However, the salary cap is going to see a ridiculous rise, from $70 million to around $94 million. This means that every team will have some form of cap space. With that, the salary cap floor will be around $64 million, almost near the cap limit of last year.

This means teams are going to spend, and more than likely overspend. The cap is only expected to rise again next year which means there really will not be many mistakes made, even when over spending for a lower quality player.

It means it is a good time for someone like Luol Deng to test the market. Deng is looked at as a middle of the pack free agent. He is not in the top tier, but he is not at the bottom of the totem pole by any means. Despite being 30 years old now, and coming off of his worst scoring season since his rookie year, Deng does have value.
To start, he can still defend. Last year he posted 2.8 Defensive win shares, his highest mark since 2012. While he can mostly defend only small forwards and stretch fours, there are some match ups in which he will be able to defend three positions.

The most valuable aspect of Deng as he enters free agency this year has to be the stretch four factor. Every team seems to need that wing defender who can slide down to power forward for small lineups. It is the newest trend in the NBA, and for Deng to be able to do it puts him on the target board for almost any team.

Still, for Deng and the team he signs for to be successful a fit is still needed. He cannot sign somewhere and be out of place, especially if he is going to get paid like expected.

With that in mind, here are the five best fits for Luol Deng this year.

Next: 5. Miami Heat