Luol Deng signs with Heat: $20M for 2 years

Maybe the Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat rivalry isn't dead after all.

Two days after LeBron James left the Heat to return to his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers, Luol Deng agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal with the Heat.

Deng met with Heat president Pat Riley last week in Chicago and joins a team that is re-tooling on the fly in the wake of James' departure.

Deng turned down a three-year, $30 million offer from the Bulls in January before getting dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bulls avoided the luxury tax with the deal, made in the wake of Derrick Rose's knee injury.

Deng turned down the Bulls' take-it-or-leave-it offer as much for the tenor of the negotiations than the monetary value. In the summer of 2013, the Bulls tabled contract extension talks and then approached Deng with their final offer before making the move to acquire Andrew Bynum's contract, which got waived.

Deng, 29, is a two-time All-Star who will join Chris Bosh and the imminent re-signings of Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem. Riley previously received verbal commitments from Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger.

Good deal for the Heat. I'd say neutral for the Bulls. They got at least something out of him. Otherwise the Bulls were probably to pay $15 per season this season if they didn't let go at that time or lose him for literally nothing.

Nice deal for Miami. Salary is low enough that they may be able to get another role player or two depending on Wade's salary, and it keeps them as the (narrow) favorites to win the Southeast division.

$10 million a year, which is what he supposedly rejected in Chicago. Interesting...

Thanks to Cleveland I guess. If he performed at anywhere near level he was with the Bulls, I have a feeling he would have asked for more.

Good signing.. I'll grade it 8/10

So basically they traded LeBron for Deng?

In a manner of speaking.

So if we were to take all the minutes played by Heat players last year and stuck them in the DarkoMeter we'd get 52-30. (Range: 51-54 wins) Which is fine because a one or two win error is not a big deal in the scheme of projections.

Now if we held all of this constant, meaning Wade doesn't play a ton of minutes, Battier and Allen are still there, etc. Then replaced all of LeBron's minutes with Luol Deng's time with the Bulls last season (which is above his career averages in most of the sum stats) we get...

39-43 (Range: 37-45 wins)

Using 2012-13 Deng: 35-47 (Range: 33-42 wins)

Let's be optimistic instead! Wade plays a full season at starter minutes, Allen returns and plays a few less minutes than last year, Josh McRoberts added:

Code:

Player   MPG
james,lebron   33.9
bosh,chris   33.9
chalmers,mario   33.9
cole,norris   24.2
allen,ray   19.4
wade,dwyane   33.9
mcroberts,josh   33.9
andersen,chris   14.5
haslem,udonis   14.5

54-28 (R: 52-58)

With 2013-14 CHI Deng: 41-41 (R: 38-44)
With 2012-13 CHI Deng: 38-44 (R: 35-43)

So...35-41 win range?

For funsies. Bosh returns to his 2009 form on that last team (2012-13 Deng) and we get...41-41 (R: 38-45) but wait, what if Wade plays like he did in 2009?!? 52-30 (R: 49-54)

So there's still a chance this could be a contender!!!!!

Thanks to Cleveland I guess. If he performed at anywhere near level he was with the Bulls, I have a feeling he would have asked for more.

Agreed. He was somewhat exposed in his short time there. While he does remain a solid 2 way player and has made himself into a respectable 3pt shooter he is still a flawed player. Still can't trust him to take more then 2 dribbles and ideally he is just 3rd scoring option

I wish him well and hope spo doesn't run him into the ground like Thibs did

Deng would be a great backup for Bosh, hope to see Miami well without LeBron.

Deng would be a great backup for Bosh, hope to see Miami well without LeBron.

Seriously man, what the hell are you talking about?

Deng is obviously going to start, but even if he won't how can he be a backup for Bosh if they aren't even playing the same position ?

Correcting the obvious with rage. A joke character?


There's good chance Luol Deng might play stretch four this season either alongside Bosh or Birdman.

Andersen will come off the bench but will play more minutes compared to last season,

I hope so, while maintaining similar level of performance from last season.

But there are a few questions. He's 36 years old, how much more Playing Time can he handle without sacrifice in quality. Will he regress due to aging? Is he still motivated without LBJ thus in shape and mentally well equipped? We shall soon see.