Deng Not a Wizard and Scottie's Troubles

Even as the Blackhawks sit one win away from the Stanley Cup, the Bulls decided their co-tenants couldn't grab all the headlines, so some noise was created today.

This morning, talk was rampant that the Bulls were in discussions with the Washington Wizards to send Luol Deng over there in exchange for Emeka Okafor and the third overall pick in this year's draft.  The only financial hiccup would be that Okafor would have to exercise the option in his contract for the coming year.  It doesn't seem so bad on paper considering Deng is a free agent after next season.

Not so fast, my friends.  It was just as quickly reported that the Wizards do not intend to go through with this deal.  Frankly, I'm glad they didn't.  Most years, I would be glad to have the third pick in the draft.  However, the class of 2013 is said to be one of the weaker ones in recent memory.  Yes, there are some big names that could be available then like Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo and Alex Len.  They could all contribute something to the Bulls and come from college programs with winning traditions, a common quality among picks in the Paxson era.  I'm not ready to see Deng leave yet however.

Dealing a two-time All-Star for a lottery pick in this class doesn't make much sense to me.  Without Deng, you lose the one player on your team with both a sharp all-around game and the veteran experience.  Nobody else currently on the roster possesses both of those assets.  Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and others have serious talent, but are still young by comparison.  Kirk Hinrich is a veteran, but has never even merited All-Star consideration.  On top of all that, trading Deng would cost the Bulls a big piece of the core they've spent years building.  If they want to contend next year, the only way to make Deng expendable would be to acquire somebody who possesses the two qualities I just mentioned.  They don't have the money for a Richard Jefferson or Andre Iguodala, both free agents, so I'd rather they'd stay pat in this department.  Leave a comment if you can come up with a legitimate replacement for Deng.

Obviously, the details on this are still emerging, but in case you didn't hear, Scottie Pippen was taken in for questioning earlier today after he was involved in a fight at a Malibu restaurant this past weekend.  No charges are being pressed at this time, but the man he fought had to be taken to the hospital after suffering head injuries.

Regardless of how this turns out, it's disappointing to see Pippen get caught up in this incident.  As he is a special adviser to Michael Reinsdorf, it certainly puts that job at risk.  This also happened months after Kendall Gill was taken off the Comcast SportsNet broadcasts for punching a Big Ten Network analyst.  I know both occurrences are isolated, but neither paint the Bulls organization in a positive light.  Pippen especially needs to feel remorse.  He's been seen as nothing but classy since he retired and now, the perception of him has likely changed to some extent.  I'll always love what he did in the 90s, but I'm not a fan of the choice he made here.  Hopefully, there's a settlement for all parties involved and he doesn't have to stay away from the organization.  As Michael Jordan owns the Bobcats, Pippen is the biggest former player the Bulls could hope to have in their organization.  To have it all thrown away because of this would be a disheartening conclusion.

It's rare for the Bulls to be in the news so much when the draft is still days away, but at least I get another chance to give my insight about the offseason.  That said, time to go watch some hockey.