The Chicago Bulls have had an abundance of recognizable talent throughout the years. While Luol Deng is certainly respected, there’s a lot more to his legacy with the Bulls.
Throughout the 21st century, it’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions for most Bulls fans to say the least. After the Jordan era and into the early 2000’s, pure disappointment and mediocrity was all most fans knew. When superstar Derrick Rose was drafted and the elite Bulls teams made their mark on the eastern conference on numerous occasions, heartbreak ensued once again with the injury of their MVP. Soon followed a few seasons of low seed playoff appearances and ultimately a rebuild.
Throughout the chaos, many players have come and gone but Luol Deng was pretty much there through it all. Aside from the very early 2000’s struggles and the current rebuild, Deng has been a part of pretty much all stages of the Bulls lifespan throughout the 21st century. He gets a lot of respect and holds a dear place in most Bulls fans’ hearts but he’s done a lot more for this franchise than many people realize.
The Mid 2000’s inconsistent Bulls
Deng was selected with the 7th pick in the 2004 draft by the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls, however, were able to acquire him in a trade for Jackson Vroman and a future first round pick. This is a fairly under appreciated move as they’d already selected former 18 point per game scorer Ben Gordon with the 3rd pick in that same draft. Throw in the fact that Kirk Hinrich was selected the year prior and the move becomes even more special.
From the 2004-05 season until 2008, the young core of Deng, Hinrich, and Gordon would go on to win 170 out of 382 total games leaving them with a fairly solid 170-158 record over their first 4 seasons together. This young core was solid but inconsistent. They went from 47 wins their first season as the main core to 33 as their last.
Chicago knew they had special players on their hands, but they weren’t content with the inconsistency which obviously led to drafting Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. However, one of the only players that was consistent was, of course,Luol Deng. Despite never being able to keep a successful roster around the three for too long, Deng was always able to thrive as a first or second option in multiple different aspects.
As opposed to Ben Gordon, Deng was able to perform at a high level in more than just scoring. Aside from averaging 15.4 points per game over the first 4 seasons without Rose, he also averaged an impressive 6.3 rebounds and recorded his highest player efficiency rating of 18.7. Not to mention, his strength and mobility on the wing made him a fierce perimeter defender, which was something only Kirk Hinrich shared in common on those early teams.
The Derrick Rose era: Deng’s ability to collaborate and evolve
Although he did have some help, Deng was more than capable of playing at a high level as the leader of a team. After just his second season in the league, he was averaging over 18 points and grabbing 7 rebounds on an efficient 51.7% shooting from the field. He was a near All-Star caliber player after such a short time and that’s impressive. However, what made him so special was his ability to improve upon that elite level play and carry it over to some top-tier late 2000’s and early 2010’s Bulls teams.
With the addition of future MVP Derrick Rose, future all-star Joakim Noah, and high level pieces like Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng was able to elevate his game even more. Ben Gordon, the former leading scorer and first option, could not find the same level of success with the Bulls as he previously did because of the addition of an athletic scorer in Derrick Rose. Deng took that challenge head on and improved his game for the better.
With a plethora of new offensive talent and Rose taking over the offense, Luol Deng realized he’d be taking a lot more off the ball three point shots due to Rose drawing in a lot of attention on drives. He attempted a total of 224 three pointers and made just 61 prior to the future MVP’s arrival in 2008. With an undeveloped point guard and two big men that couldn’t stretch beyond mid-range, Deng was going to need to make a lot higher of a percentage if this team’s offense was going to be successful. Sure enough, he most certainly did.
While definitely still an elite slasher, rebounder and defender at the small forward position, Deng was now finally able to elevate his game enough to be recognized for his work because of his consistent shot. The once limited offensive threat was now one of the scariest sights on the wing. Throughout his final 5 and a half seasons with the Bulls, Deng attempted 1,073 three point attempts and made 366 of them, a solid 34% as opposed to the previous 27.2%.
The not so flashy All-Star
Deng would never average over 17 points again, but was still an elite defender and rebounder and was instrumental in the Bulls’ success. He was finally selected to his first and only 2 all-star games back to back in 2012 and 13 and was also named to the 2011-12 all-defensive second team.
A lot of fans remember Luol Deng for his all-star level play during the Rose era but don’t really know the steps he took to get there. Deng essentially went from the slashing franchise player to an elite all-around specialist and 3rd option scorer behind Rose and Boozer. At the end of the day, he wasn’t going to be the guy to get you 50 points in a win. He was, however, the one who would score 25 points, grab 7 rebounds, and dish out 5 assists all while guarding the opposing teams best player.
It’s hard for a lot of players to sacrifice being the first option on a team. Deng was averaging 18 points per game after just two years and the future looked bright for him as a first option. He put that aside and focused on his three point shot and defense to solidify the Bulls as one of the best two-way teams in the league. Joakim Noah and Luol Deng alongside the help of guys like Ronnie Brewer anchored the Bulls to claim their place as the best defensive team in the league during the 2011-12 season.
While he certainly wasn’t the only reason for the Bulls’ major success later on, he was undoubtedly important. So important, in fact, that the deep playoff pushes may not have been possible without an all-around Swiss army knife like him in the eyes of many.