The Cleveland Cavaliers have figured out what they would do with the Andrew Bynum liability.
The Cavs trade him to the Chicago Bulls, along with draft picks in exchange for Luol Deng.
RealGM's Shams Charania first reported this deal, which was seconded by ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
The picks concerned are a protected first round pick from the Sacramento Kings that had been acquired via trade back in 2011 for JJ Hickson and Portland's second round picks in 2015 and 2016 that had been acquired in exchange for rookie Allen Crabbe. In addition, the Bulls can opt to swap picks with the Cavs in the 2015 Draft, if Cleveland is picking from 15-30th.
In making the deal, Cavs GM Chris Grant says, "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. Luol reflects all that we are striving for in building our team. He’s a tremendous defensive player that can impact the game on both ends of the court with a team first mentality and is a high character leader.”
Bulls GM Gar Forman adds, "We have great respect for Luol Deng, as a player and a person. He has been an incredible contributor to our team on the court, and he has also done great things in the community. On behalf of the entire Bulls organization, I want to thank Luol for his years in Chicago." He also said that, “The moves made today will put us in a better position to make the entire roster stronger for the future and to compete for a championship.”
Deng has played 23 games this season for the Bulls, averaging a career-best 19.0 points on .452 shooting, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal in 37.4 minutes per game.
He has spent his entire nine-year career with the Bulls after being acquired in a draft-day deal with Phoenix, who picked them 7th overall in 2004. He owns career averages of 16.1 points on .460 shooting, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal in 35.9 minutes over 637 games (591 starts), complemented by his averages of 16.7 points on .452 shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 40.3 minutes per game in 48 playoff games, something that the Cavs want to accomplish this season.
Deng has been an NBA All-Star in each of the past two seasons (2012 and 2013) and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. He also received the NBA Sportsmanship Award in 2007 and All-Rookie First Team honors in 2005.
The Bulls are expected to waive Bynum before the deadline on Tuesday that will guarantee his contract for the rest of the season. In addition, Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski shared that Deng declined the three-year, $30 million extension offer last week.
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