Luol Deng is already on the trading block in Cleveland? (USATSI)
The Cleveland Cavaliers were ready to make a push toward the playoffs early last month when they traded Andrew Bynum's non fully guaranteed contract and three draft picks to the Chicago Bulls for Luol Deng. The All-Star forward was going to help them reverse the losing culture in Cleveland and help them right a ship in the weak Eastern Conference to give their young guys a brief taste of playoff success. Then the wheels fell off the Cavs, Chris Grant was fired as the general manager, and dysfunction seemed to be running rampant in the organization.
Since then, a five-game winning streak has put them back in the playoff hunt and there is less stress going on with the Cavs right now. But that may not stop them from shopping the newly acquired Deng to see what kind of assets he might bring in a deadline deal. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com is reporting the Cavs are shopping him because of concern about his upcoming free agency.
As they evaluate their team and try to make a deal to help them get into the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers are making recently acquired Luol Deng available ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, multiple league sources told ESPN.com.
The Cavs traded three future draft picks and Andrew Bynum to the Chicago Bulls to acquire Deng on Jan. 7. But the deal hasn't yet worked out how either side hoped.
Cleveland isn't determined to trade Deng, but with his impending free agency a concern, new general manager David Griffin is testing the market to see what the veteran forward might bring.
Getting value for Deng may be a challenge because his contract expires in June. He cannot be packaged with another Cavs player in a deal due to trade rules, though trades can be structured in a way to get around this issue if the sides are motivated enough.
This would be a pretty big change for the Cavs right away. If they're truly worried about re-signing Deng this summer, then it makes sense to move him and get something in return. The Cavs are 10-10 since acquiring Deng, which is good but it's also boosted by a sudden shift in the win column with this current winning streak. They're still just 21-33 on the season, good for 10th in the East and three games behind the Bobcats for the 8-seed.
Deng has averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 41.5 percent from the field in 18 games with the Cavs.
Basketball Hot News
Chauncey Billups reportedly undergoing knee surgery
What a horrific signing by the Pistons last summer. He’s way overpaid. The Pistons, already a bad team, are worse on both ends of the court when plays.
No, not Josh Smith (who’s actually helped the wayward Pistons offensively and defensively).
I’m talking about Chauncey Billups.
When you give Smith a $54 million contract, your other missteps tend be overlooked. But Joe Dumars also signed Billups to a two-year, $5 million contract before the season.
I don’t want to denigrate Billups, who’s had a marvelous career and did so much for the Pistons in his first stint with the team. But in his return season, he’s barely gotten on the court (309 minutes in 19 games) and played poorly when he has (5.46 PER). Billups hasn’t done anything wrong, per se. That’s just what happens when players age
As does this:
Sources: Billups to undergo knee surgery on right meniscus. Not career or season ending, though. #Pistons—
Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) February 19, 2014
I’m not sure how you declare any surgery on a 37-year-old – especially someone who’s missed 140 of his teams’ 201 games (and counting) the last three years – won’t be career-ending, let alone season-ending.
The Pistons have a team option for Billups next year, and if they didn’t already plan to cut him loose, this should push them firmly in that direction. They wasted one chance to put a better player on the roster, and they shouldn’t squander another.
Billups can transition to his next career in a team’s front office – he’s always said he prefers that to coaching – and the Pistons can sign someone younger.
Hopefully, Billups returns later this season to get a proper sendoff while playing for Detroit, where he experienced so much success. But after that, it’s time to move on.
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