Luol Deng

[Soar]

To be fair to Deng, I'm sure our locker room was a mess. By all accounts it was. So I can't blame him for telling his best friend "hey this locker room is pretty dysfunctional."

At the same time, I have a hard time believing he will be here next year and I am mildly surprised we didn't trade him. I guess it would send the wrong message to the team if we couldn't add an established player in return.

And though I recognize that he is injured, I haven't really been impressed with Deng's play either. So the idea of signing him to a huge deal isn't exactly appealing to me right now.

But I still think we can keep Deng assuming the team keeps building and a new culture continues to be built. It just seems unlikely and risky at this point.

As an aside, if Griffin is here, I have an extremely hard time believing that Mike Brown will be. So a new coach could change our free agent odds.

 

[ice cream man]

This team is such a mess. IF his achilles doesn't appear to be a long term problem, I really hope we can hang onto Deng. Kyrie/Dion/Deng is a great starting 1,2,3 to move forward with. Unfortunately, there are weaknesses and question marks all over the place after that.

 

[Certified Beast]

He's trying to do too much in order to earn his max. Maybe its part coaching, but when he gets the ball he forces way more than he used to. I don't think he is resigning with this team, and I definitely don't want us overpaying for him. If we could replace him with Gordon Hayward, that would be amazing.

 

[DatDudeZ3]

Seriously, how bad has MB's offense made Deng look on offense? Honestly, if I had a guess, I would say Deng is shooting around 35% with us... Does anyone know what he really is shooting with us?

 

[wuck]

Seriously, how bad has MB's offense made Deng look on offense? Honestly, if I had a guess, I would say Deng is shooting around 35% with us... Does anyone know what he really is shooting with us?

Including tonight, 40.7% from 2-pt range, 33.8% from 3-pt range.

This site tracks his Cavs stats (not yet updated with tonight's game): http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/denglu01.html


He is still laboring on the court with the Achilles issue, even if he says it's gotten a bit better. I don't think we're going to see him at his best this year, and thus maybe never as a Cavs player.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Seriously, how bad has MB's offense made Deng look on offense? Honestly, if I had a guess, I would say Deng is shooting around 35% with us... Does anyone know what he really is shooting with us?

In Chicago Deng was averaging 15.4 shots a game - 45.2% from the field - 27.4% from 3.

In Cleveland Deng is averaging 12.9 shots a game - 41% from the field - 36.5% from 3.

I believe this is before tonight's game, 3-14 isn't going to help.

 

[DatDudeZ3]

Man, his last few games are heavy on my mind then. Well I'm positive he's shooting under 40% the last 5 games :chuckles:

 

[brooks]

He's never been a great 3PT shooter so he gets a pass there, but his numbers would otherwise look better if he stopped forcing the drive so much. I don't remember him trying to penetrate off the dribble that often in Chicago - usually he'd pass it off to someone and slash or pull up for a mid-ranger, whereas now it seems like he wants everything that's not wide open to come in the lane. He draws a decent amount of fouls, but for every one foul drawn he'll get blocked or forced into a terrible shot twice.

The defensive intensity is still there at least - DeRozan's night was hardly due to Deng's lack of effort.

 

[falcon2294]

He's never been a great 3PT shooter so he gets a pass there, but his numbers would otherwise look better if he stopped forcing the drive so much. I don't remember him trying to penetrate off the dribble that often in Chicago - usually he'd pass it off to someone and slash or pull up for a mid-ranger, whereas now it seems like he wants everything that's not wide open to come in the lane. He draws a decent amount of fouls, but for every one foul drawn he'll get blocked or forced into a terrible shot twice.
The defensive intensity is still there at least - DeRozan's night was hardly due to Deng's lack of effort.

I was thinking the same thing timings. I'll he honest I don't watch the bulls that much, but I thought he was always more of an off ball player who got his points of cuts and open jump shots. Didn't really think of him as guy who could create his own shot every night

 

[gourimoko]

In Chicago Deng was averaging 15.4 shots a game - 45.2% from the field - 27.4% from 3.

In Cleveland Deng is averaging 12.9 shots a game - 41% from the field - 36.5% from 3.

I believe this is before tonight's game, 3-14 isn't going to help.

Hmm... I wonder why.. :detective

 

[cavsfan21]

Do his moves strike anyone else as being labored at all?

It seems as though it takes him forever to get a shot fake up and then transition to move the ball down past his hip to drive. Does anyone else see any wasted motion?

Maybe this was hidden in a flowing offense that he was comfortable and familiar with?

Is his athleticism making up for his fundamentals? What happens when the athleticism starts to slip? Will his Achillies ever be right? Was he run into the ground with all those heavy minutes in Chicago?

 

[gourimoko]

Or maybe we don't run an offense??

Maybe that's Jarrett Jack's problem too? Possibly even Kyrie's?

What if... it's Mike Brown?

 

[cavsfan21]

Or maybe we don't run an offense??

Maybe that's Jarrett Jack's problem too? Possibly even Kyrie's?

What if... it's Mike Brown?

You're right- everyone would look better in a better offense.

Maybe it's just me that sees the Tim Tebow/Matt Schaub of the shot fake and drive release timing.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Or maybe we don't run an offense??

Maybe that's Jarrett Jack's problem too? Possibly even Kyrie's?

What if... it's Mike Brown?

We do run an offense. The problem is that it's just a series of pick-and-rolls/pops. On the plus side, it has evolved from earlier this year where we would run one pick-and-roll and, if that didn't result in a shot, everyone panicked.

 

[shoes22]

It's kinda crazy...Deng's value is decreasing every day with his labored play. It's almost at the point where Deng is hardly a top re-signing priority this summer.