Luol Deng

[Snarly]

"Wiki Info" Luol Deng (born April 16, 1985) is a British professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] He has also competed with the Great Britain national basketball team. He was selected for his first NBA All-Star game during the 2011–12 season, joining teammate Derrick Rose. Born in what is now South Sudan, Deng fled the country with his family as a child, moving to Egypt and then the United Kingdom, becoming a British citizen in 2006.

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"Luol Deng
#9, F, Cleveland
Luol Deng
Height: 6-9
Weight: 220
Born: April 16, 1985
Birth Place: Wau, Sudan
College: Duke
Draft: 2004 1st round (7th pick) by the Phoenix Suns
Pts
19.0
Reb
6.9
Ast
3.7"

 

[OhioSlayer]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Loul Deng meet Cleveland.

Cleveland meet the PLAYOFFS.

 

[gourimoko]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

It's so funny how Grant has put this team together.

Kyrie, Jack, Waiters, Deng; all can create their own shot, and also create opportunities for others.
Hell, Bennett was drafted with the intention he should be able to create his own shot and be a reliably offensive player in the near-term. That may pan out, it may not, we'll see..

But I think if we learned anything from our LeBron years, it's that you can't have one focal point of the offense, or teams will beat you by shutting him down. Glad we have so many dynamic players now.

With that said, however, it's going to be up to Mike Brown to implement an offensive system that can support so many skilled offensive players.

 

[kidduck]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

[h=2]Luol Deng leaves a powerful Bulls legacy[/h]by Sam Smith

<small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">JAN</small>7
​

It’s a sad day for Bulls fans.


Yes, plenty of them wanted Luol Deng traded once Derrick Rose was hurt and out for the season with the possibility of a championship lost, Deng a free agent and possibly leaving after the season for a better contract or weather. Plenty of fans wanted a shot at a young player in the upcoming draft, projected to be one of the best in the last decade.


It’s understandable and from a pure business sense perhaps justifiable.


After all, Deng was with the Bulls almost 10 years and what did the team have to show for it? One appearance in the Eastern Conference finals for five games, the only time the team was out of the second round. You can move on from that.


But you don’t move on from people and players like Luol Deng very often. And you are fortunate as an NBA team to come across someone like Luol Deng. He may not be remembered most fondly in team history, certainly not like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the six-time champions. And likely not even like Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier and Chet Walker and Bob Love and Tom Boerwinkle of the first great Bulls band of the early franchise years.


But Deng should always be remembered proudly as someone who gave every bit of what he had for the team, was a model citizen and someone who made you feel proud to watch and enjoy the NBA, a classy competitor who got as much out of his natural ability as maybe anyone who ever played for the Bulls.


Deng joined only Jordan, Pippen, Boerwinkle and Sloan playing a 10th season for the Bulls. He recently passed Sloan for fourth on the team’s alltime scoring list. Typical of who Deng was and perhaps how much he was taken for granted, there was little note of it or to be long remembered.


Deng also has played the fourth most amount of minutes for the franchise behind Jordan, Pippen and Sloan, all of whose jerseys have been retired, and Deng ends up among top 10 franchise leaders in 10 other categories, including steals, blocks, rebounds and three pointers. This season was Deng’s eight consecutive opening day start, two behind alltime leader Sloan. And Deng was one of just 10 players in franchise history to play for more than one All-Star team. He was one of a dozen to be on an all-defensive team and was the only player in franchise history to win the league’s sportsmanship award.


He leaves one of the great legacies in team history.


And his legacy to humanity transcends that and keeps on.


Deng, a refugee from Sudan who grew up in England, played for the Great Britain Olympic basketball team and has been the Bulls regular representative in the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program that brings the game around the world and provides international help. Deng with his foundation travels the world in the summer doing clinics and charitable work. Even in recent days in Chicago he was awarding fans prizes for contributions to his work with Chicago food pantries. No one among the Bulls has ever been a more community and worldwide involved citizen. He’s been honored by the United Nations, the league’s community assist award and the Bulls Lubin award for community service.


Though it’s been a star crossed career for Deng with the Bulls.


One of the nation’s highest ranked prep prospects, he attended Duke U. for one season and then was drafted by the Suns in a draft day deal for the Bulls. But perhaps as a signal of the career ambivalence he endured with the Bulls, the Bulls at the time were making the deal to trade the pick to the Pacers for Al Harrington. The Pacers backed out of the deal at the last minute. So the Bulls used their pick, No. 3, for Ben Gordon and Deng was taken No. 7.


Coming in to play for Scott Skiles as a rookie, Deng had an awakening with Skiles’ direct style. He also tore a wrist ligament late in the season and sat out the 2005 playoffs, a harbinger for future springs.


A serious minded worker, though quiet, Deng missed just four games and was a top reserve, averaging 14.3 per game and 10.2 in the playoff loss to Miami.


But there were always the questions. He wasn’t particularly athletic, not the strong one-on-one type player who finished strong at the basket with highlight plays. He was a worker, a plodder, sort of like he lived his life, enduring and making the best of it with hard work and optimism. He needed a good team around him because he was an unselfish player along with an inventive coach to take advantage of his abilities to work off the ball. He played a bit upright and didn’t have a long distance shot. But he defended hard at 6-9 and could find ways to score.


Skiles found those ways to help him and Deng blossomed into one of the top small forwards in the league in 2006-07, averaging 18.8 points. He then averaged 22 points in the playoffs that featured the upset sweep of defending champion Miami. He seemed on the verge of stardom. So much so that when possibilities developed about a trade for Memphis’s Pau Gasol, the Bulls were reluctant to part with Deng. The most reluctant was said to be managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf, who was the biggest champion of Deng in the organization. Later when Kobe Bryant asked the Lakers to trade him and mentioned the Bulls as his preferred destination, the Bulls were told by Bryant’s representatives that Bryant would not accept a deal to the Bulls if Deng were traded for him.


Deng’s average fell to 17 points the next season as the Bulls missed the playoffs and Skiles was fired while Deng suffered through contract extension issues with the team. Both he and Gordon rejected initial team offers and it seemed to affect them that season. But the fall from the playoffs resulted in the Bulls getting Derrick Rose in the draft. The Bulls chose to make a bigger offer to Deng; Gordon was insulted and would leave as a free agent.


But Deng would suffer several injuries in Rose’s rookie season and eventually miss the last 22 games and the playoffs with a stress fracture.


Deng returned determined to overcome questions about his health and willingness to play, which were whispered and hurt him dearly. He averaged 17.6 points and a career high 7.3 rebounds in 70 games, though the Bulls would lose to the Cavs and LeBron James in the first round.


Questions always swirled about Deng: Was he good enough to win with? Especially now that he didn’t seem to fit with coach Vinny Del Negro’s system.


But Deng put his head down to work again, playing all 82 games in 2010-11 for new coach Tom Thibodeau, who quickly grew to admire Deng’s game and attitude and often labeled him the “glue” that kept the team together. Deng remained the Bulls’ irreplaceable player to defend James and counter him with enough scoring that James could not swing the game. The Bulls would win the majority of their games against Miami in the regular season with Deng that season making the winning plays in the final Bulls regular season win in Miami.


Though not a great outside shooter and attempting just seven threes all season in 2007, Deng worked to become one of the team’s most prolific three point shooters the last three years and shooting a commendable 35 percent on the long ball.


When the Bulls led the league in wins in Thibodeau’s first season, Deng averaged 17.4 points per game. But he played in every game and was third in the league in minutes played. In the shortened 2011-12 season, he suffered a severe left wrist injury again. But he taped it and played through it all season and through that disappointing first round loss when Derrick Rose was injured. Deng had a pair of game winning shots that season and while often questioned early in his career as a player who disappeared late in games, Deng became a go to scorer. Similarly last season with a game winner in Toronto and leading the team in double figure scoring games. And this season Deng was leading the team in scoring even amidst all the talk about being traded and whether he would or should get a new contract.


He continued to perform and play and the community continued to profit from his presence. He was a true ambassador for the game and a player for whom fans could root and feel proud. He deserves to be favorably remembered and celebrated among the best the game produces and what is right about sports.

 

[MGMT]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Wonder how much gas the dude has in the tank; Thibs ran him into the ground.

 

[gourimoko]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Wonder how much gas the dude has in the tank; Thibs ran him into the ground.

Same age as LeBron James... Gotta think he's got at least another 3-4 years in him.

 

[kidduck]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Excerpt from an article in the Chicago Tribune:

But last season ended badly for Deng, who missed the end of the Bulls’ first-round playoff victory over the Nets and all of the second-round series against the Heat after a spinal tap caused serious complications that Deng later termed life-threatening.


The Bulls issued the spinal tap to test for viral meningitis, and sources at the time indicated Deng complained of his post-procedure care, which featured unfamiliar doctors, no visits from team personnel and the lack of a private hospital room.


Deng’s representatives met with Bulls management last offseason to discuss their concerns over these issues. That set an ominous tone for general talk on a contract extension for Deng, which produced such a gulf that no counteroffers were exchanged.


Deng’s camp saw Josh Smith sign for $14 million annually with the Pistons last summer and figured Deng’s value as higher.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ew-bynum-trade-bulls-20140106,0,4004271.story

 

[Omar The Horse]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

I feel like Dellavedova is going to welcome him with full court defensive pressure as soon as he walks off the plane.

 

[cavsfanclanman]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Welcome Deng!


Feel so much better about this thab Gasol.

 

[CavsFTW]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

No one does the reverse handstand dribble drive better.

 

[LondonCav]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

You don't know how excited I was to find out the number 1 British player was a Cav this morning!!

This is awesome, welcome Luol.

 

[Tornicade]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Its gonna be fun watching people complain about you Deng. enjoy the honeymoon.

 

[216]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

I'm ecstatic. Deng is just what this young team needed.

We're going to make the playoffs and we might just upset some shit and see the second round..

the rest of this season is gonna be FUN

 

[Adam]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

My biggest concern is he is pretty banged up. Luckily the cavs have great medical staff. His wrist is still bad and he had arguments with the bulls about surgery on it. The Achilles is still healing so that has helped keep his minutes down. Hopefully brown will not play him 40 mins. Deng is just the epitome of a basketball player, can do most things well but not a highlight guy, he's the anti josh smith.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Re: Welcome Loul Deng.

Welcome to the Cavs. And welcome to my 2k Association I'll be starting over later today. I'm interested to see how much Deng commands in the virtual offseason.