On the surface the latest deal between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers seems to be a bit daft. They trade for a well known player in the person of Andrew Bynum and then waive him the next day. Plus, they trade away Luol Deng who is arguably one of the most productive players in the NBA today. Why would they do that?
On closer inspection the Bulls are not trading and dealing for this season. The team is still below the 500% mark with little hope of making the playoffs this season. So, the powers that be in the Bulls organization have obviously set their sights on the future.
What they were trading for was not the services of Andrew Bynum who, although a fine basketball player, has probably seen his better days, but for the future NBA Draft picks that came along with the deal.
According to Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant, Cleveland acquired All-Star forward Luol Deng from the Chicago Bulls for Bynum plus three future draft picks and the right to swap 2015 first round picks with the Cavs with picks 1-14 protected. Grant told the press, “We are very excited for Luol to join the Cavaliers organization. We have worked to acquire and maintain flexibility in order to capitalize on opportunities such as this one.”
So the Cavaliers get a first class player who is ready to play right away and the Bulls get themselves the tools necessary to build an All-Star team of their own in the next few years.
It gets a bit complicated but here is how the deal is supposed to work out. The Bulls will get Cleveland’s right to the Sacramento King’s first round draft pick from a deal dating back to 2011. Plus, Chicago gets the right to exchange its own 2015 first round draft pick with Cleveland’s 2014 first round pick if the Cavs pick is between 15 & 30. Then they get the Portland Trail Blazer’s 2015 and 2016 second round draft picks acquired from Portland via a 2013 draft night trade. If this all sounds complicated to you, imagine how it was for the guys working out the deal.
The Bulls waived Bynam the next day before his $12 million guaranteed deal kicked in. Deng would have been a free agent after this season anyway and the Bulls were unlikely to want to meet his price to remain with the franchise.
