Loul Deng

[kekgeek]

Sounds like he is working on a buyout with the Lakers.

Any interest in him. He was pretty bad last year and isn't playing this year (lakers young wings playing well)

I would guess he would come at the min and take Bazz minutes.

Any interest?

[60WinTim]

Assuming there is nothing wrong with him health-wise, I would definitely be interested in him. The Thibs connection is certainly a factor. But I see him more as Belly insurance than taking Bazz's roll. Belly has not come close to playing a full season. We have 4 solid bigs right now, but we will feel the squeeze if/when one of them goes down for awhile.

I think Bazz will eventually get himself going. If not, well, Thibs seems very comfortable trotting out a 9-man rotation...

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Definitely intriguing. I think defensively and b-ball IQ wise he would be a huge upgrade to Shabazz in the rotation. However, is he really a bench SF anymore? As Tim says, he's more of a small ball 4 these days and I don't see him taking Bjelly's minutes, although he would give us nice depth Taj or Bjelly got hurt.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I wouldn't want to guarantee him minutes after the terrible year he had last year and given that he'd really be the 5th big on the depth chart after KAT, Taj, G, and Belly.

At the same time, he is only 32. He was still pretty effective and efficient in Miami for two years before last year. He is a pretty versatile guy and can do a little bit of everything. He's also another class act with a good history with Thibs. Would this use up our last roster spot, or is that something we can keep open?

Also, what's the plan with Patton? I know this guy broke his foot and we can't expect much from such a young guy, but do we want to try to give that guy some minutes at all this year, or is he just a G League project for this year? I never understood that pick with Towns and G already on the roster. There were lots of stretch 4s who might have helped. Some might have panned out, some might not have, but is that plan that if Patton is good enough, we move G at some point?

EDIT: My assumption is Deng is a PF. I just think with the way the league is moving, he has to play there. Hell, I bet there are plenty of those NBA online commentator podcast types that would say he'd be a 5 today.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I think the answer is he certainly wouldn't hurt for all the reasons you mention Drew. We just can't guarantee him playing time. But there WILL be injuries. There is no way we are going to go this whole season without one or two of our bigs missing a stretch of time. And man, it would be nice to have a vet like Deng be able to step in. While he might be a modern day PF, I think he's another one of these guys that can switch on nearly everything and hold his own. So defensively, I think he fits the modern mold of what teams need.

[Monster]

IMO Deng is gonna have to leave A TON of money on the table in a buyout. After this year he still has 2 years and a total of 36 million left. At some point the Lakers will probably have to include a young asset to move him like they did with Mosgov and the teams that can take on Deng's salary won't be many.

Let's say Deng does Do a buyout where he gets all his money this year and hardly anything after that to be able to play. Would he actually play here? What does he have left? For all the "We have to win now" stuff we here about the Wolves Thibs bent over backward to get Bazz here and they kept MGH and are starting Tyus over Brooks. They have done some things with an eye towards developing some young players. There are decent vet wings out there right now they could sign with an open roster spot if they wanted to. So it's not a sure thing at this point he would actually play if he signed here. If Bazz is still ineffective in a few weeks then that could change. Ive always liked Deng and for the vet min I would take him but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high on him landing here.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

There's no way anybody trades for that contract, it has to be a buyout, and it sounds like he's eager to get out so he's probably willing to leave a good deal of money on the table and the Lakers are rolling in cash so I'm sure they'll meet somewhere in the middle and that buyout will happen.

If we bring him in, I don't think we should be imagining we have our Bazz insurance though, because I think Deng is really more of a big.

Ideally, if a guy like Deng were a wing, THAT would be a great pickup for us, because that's where our depth is the weakest right now. That's why if this happens, I'm hesitant to use the 15th roster spot because that might come in handy.

Still, I've always loved Deng and I do think he can still be an effective player. Actually, I may have told you guys this before, but I used to live in Chicago and the Bulls during the Thibs days were my second-favorite team with Butler, Taj, Deng, and Rose and Noah all being guys I really liked as players.

[Monster]

There's no way anybody trades for that contract, it has to be a buyout, and it sounds like he's eager to get out so he's probably willing to leave a good deal of money on the table and the Lakers are rolling in cash so I'm sure they'll meet somewhere in the middle and that buyout will happen.

If we bring him in, I don't think we should be imagining we have our Bazz insurance though, because I think Deng is really more of a big.

Ideally, if a guy like Deng were a wing, THAT would be a great pickup for us, because that's where our depth is the weakest right now. That's why if this happens, I'm hesitant to use the 15th roster spot because that might come in handy.

Still, I've always loved Deng and I do think he can still be an effective player. Actually, I may have told you guys this before, but I used to live in Chicago and the Bulls during the Thibs days were my second-favorite team with Butler, Taj, Deng, and Rose and Noah all being guys I really liked as players.

The Raptors paid a decent price to move D. Carroll (has 1 fewer year on his deal and costs less) and he has played pretty well for his old assistant coach so far with the Nets. If you want some optimism about Deng being an effective player...there is that. Of course 20 games from now Carroll could break down and miss a bunch of games or just look done. If he doesn't the Nets could probably move him and get something worthwhile back! lol

[Coolbreeze44]

If he doesn't cost anything, why not? But if you expect him to move the needle you are going to be disappointed. Some guys are done at his age after logging the number of miles he has. I didn't want him during the summer of 2016, he's a worse option today.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If he comes here on a vet minimum I would do it in a heartbeat and sit Bazz on the bench. Bazz just doesn't fit on this team. Our starting lineup tanked hard when he replaced Jimmy. Deng could at least give us a smart player who will work hard on defense and hopefully help get Thibs message to these young guys on how to play defense. I don't know how much Deng has in the tank, but he's only 32 which means you could still probably squeeze a year or two out of him. He'd also be our best shot at guarding small ball as a combo forward. He'd be like a younger version of Tayshaun Prince for us.