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player ready...Mike D’Antoni thought Luol Deng might have been a member of the Phoenix Suns.
“We liked him,” said the Suns coach, whose team was heading into the 2004 NBA draft with the seventh overall selection. “Though [Andre] Iguodala was from Arizona. We probably would have gone with the athlete.”
Iguodala, now playing more of a featured role with the Philadelphia 76ers after the trade of Allen Iverson, is a fabulous athlete and was part of the intense debate on draft night in the Bulls’ draft room.
But Deng is looking like he could be an Eastern Conference All-Star this season and had another impressive all-around effort Tuesday night with 19 points and eight rebounds in the Bulls’ heartbreaking 97-96 loss on a Leandro Barbosa three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.
Deng is one of a trio of Bulls linked with the Suns who make up the core of the Bulls’ impressive young nucleus as part of the big Summer of ’04 haul. Their arrival in Chicago is the subject of one of the most intriguing “what ifs” in the building of this Bulls team.
What if the Bulls didn’t pay $3 million to buy the draft pick from the Suns? What if the Indiana Pacers, as they indicated they would, traded Al Harrington for the pick? What if Andres Nocioni knew June in Chicago is like Phoenix all year? What if the Washington Wizards selected Deng, as they told him they would, instead of trading for Antawn Jamison?
“I was just happy the whole process was over,” Deng recalled about leaving Duke after one year. “I always wanted to be a pro and I felt after a year I was in position to do what I always wanted. I was working out in Chicago with Tim Grover before the draft. So I stayed here and the only teams I really went to were Charlotte and the Wizards. The others came here. I liked the city a lot, but I thought I would be going to Washington.”
The Bulls’ plan was to get a scorer to play with Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler, a player who could step outside, make a shot and open up the inside for Curry. Harrington was asking out of Indiana. “We liked Harrington,” Bulls general manager John Paxson said.
But the Pacers liked Ben Gordon even better.
He was the player they really were pursing, but the Bulls declined to trade the No. 3 pick they had in the draft.
Though the Bobcats talked with Deng, they were looking for a big man so they ended up taking Emeka Okafor after Orlando took Dwight Howard first overall. It worked out for them as Okafor has recovered from ankle problems last season and is among the league leaders in blocks and rebounds.
Paxson understood the Bulls’ talent cupboard wasn’t overflowing and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf agreed to purchase a draft pick from the Suns for the maximum $3 million.
“That was big for getting us going,” Paxson said.
The Bulls had pretty much settled on Gordon with the No. 3 pick after several brilliant shooting exhibitions in workouts. Though he was small and not the perfect complement to Kirk Hinrich, they were sold on his scoring ability. Gordon showed that again Tuesday why his stock was a buy when his career-high 41 points was his sixth game of at least 30 points this season.
Dallas, with the No. 5 pick, also was pursuing Gordon, and settled on Wisconsin guard Devin Harris, who’s taller but not a shooter or scorer.
The Clippers at No. 4 were leaning all along toward Peoria high-schooler Shaun Livingston, who now is starting for the injured and aging Sam Cassell.
The surprise, as it has been in several recent drafts, was the Hawks. They went for Stanford’s Josh Childress, who wasn’t ranked highly by several of the teams yet to select. It left Deng, Iguodala and Luke Jackson in the Bulls’ internal debate.
Then-Suns GM Bryan Colangelo also was chasing Andres Nocioni, who was a free agent and anxious to make an NBA decision in the window between the end of his European season and the Olympics for Argentina.
He never got to Phoenix, visiting Chicago and signing.
But the Bulls were eager to improve right away and a veteran scorer like Harrington was appealing. For some reason, the Pacers backed off. The Bulls breathed a big sigh of relief when Childress went to Atlanta. The consensus finally came down to Deng, and it should pay off in an All-Star appearance even if Deng isn’t convinced.
“The big improvement for me this season, more than anything, was being consistent,” Deng said. “The first two years, I’d get 18 one game, four the next. I improved my jump shot and slowed down. To be an All-Star, I don’t think I’m there, or even close. I have a lot to work on in my game.”
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The Bulls gave the Suns a No. 1 in the 2005 draft in the Deng swap, and it looked good when the Bulls started 2004-05 with an 0-9 record. But they recovered to win 47 games so the Suns got the No. 21 pick they used for Nate Robinson. Then they traded him to the Knicks with Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make.
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