Why I buy in to the Luol Deng trade for Cleveland

It was an interesting move that the Cavs pulled off just moments after "Famous" Jameis Winston threw the game-winning pass to 6'5" receiver Kelvin Benjamin at the Rose Bowl over Iron Bowl hero Chris Davis, Jr.

Real GM's Shams Charania broke the news, although it got the major traction when Brian Windhorst revealed the details. Brian did acknowledge Shams' break.

Hat tip to @ShamsCharania, looks like he got the Deng news out just before I did.

Chris Grant sends the Sacramento pick, and the two second round Portland picks to Chicago, along with the contract of Andrew Bynum, for Luol Deng. They also give the Bulls chance to swap picks, provided that Cleveland makes the playoffs next season.

This clearly is a step back for Chicago Bulls and the man who made the deal, GM Gar Forman. They are expected to waive Bynum before the guaranteed money kicks in, which allows them to escape the luxury tax. And before we dig in on the first rounder of Sacramento, here are the regulations with regards to that pick the Cavs acquired along with Omri Casspi in exchange for JJ Hickson back in 2011:

Top 12-protection in 2014, top 10-protection in 2015-17, else 2017 second round pick (protected 56-60) (c/o Pro Sports Transcations)

Basically, the Kings have to show signs of improvement within the next three years. And based from the behavior of Vivek Ranadive and his ownership of the franchise, that will be the case, especially with the new arena they are talking up.

However, I want to delve into what this means for Cleveland.

1. Deng and leadership. Grant said so himself, "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". Consider who he was traded for. Andrew Bynum basically got paid to stay away from the team. Quite a 180, if you ask me.

2. Deng gets his just due. Y!'s Woj tweeted, then wrote that Luol declined a 3-year $30 million extension offer from Chicago. Seems that the bridge has been burned ever since the whole spinal tap issue took place. He thinks he can get J-Smoove money, and the Cavs, if they don't nab a certain Akron native, will be more than happy to give that $$$$ to someone.

3. Deng improves rotation. The Cavs need a small forward whom can plug in for 35 minutes. The ones they are trotting out aren't exactly cutting it. CJ Miles? Alonzo Gee? Earl Clark? Anthony Bennett? Deng fills that hole instantly. He also might be able to play small ball PF on some situations. It also pretty much says, let's abort the Bennett experiment at the SF.

4. Deng gives them a chance in the postseason. Seeds 3-8 in the East is in flux. Anybody can snag it. The gap between third-place Atlanta and 14th place Orlando is 7.5 games as of the moment, and the Magic are just four games behind Detroit for the 8th spot. Cleveland is in 13th with a 11-23 record, with what might be an easy stretch (host the Sixers, then go on a road trip against the Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Blazers (whom they lost on a Lillard walkoff at the Q), and Nuggets, before hosting the Mavericks. As long as they do not finish in 7th or 8th, they may find themselves some luck and make it to the 2nd round. Oh, after their game against Dallas, they host Chicago at the Q.

D Rose Tour in full bloom at Manila

Derrick Rose made his long-awaited return to the Philippines a few days ago for the final overseas stop of his D Rose Worldwide Tour.

As explained by Adidas Philippines' Country Manager Georges Youssef, “This tour is an expansive effort to connect Derrick Rose with his fans and support the growth of basketball on an international scale.”

The 2009 Rookie of the Year and the 2011 Most Valuable Player spent a couple of days here, with a busy itinerary.

On his arrival on Saturday, he was the guest of honor in the Adidas Unite All Originals party. Sunday may have been Cheerdance day at the Mall of Asia Arena, but if you were at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum, you were witness to the D Rose Tour's 3-on-3 tournament.

The tournament brought together 16 top high school teams from the ASEAN region, with the chance and opportunity to be playing in front of the NBA superstar. Thailand won the tournament, beating out Arellano in the final.

Rose also showed that he is really on track from his recovery from his knee injury, playing in an exhibition 3-on-3 with the Thais against a select group of PBA stars. He also gamely played two-ball (with the lovely Isabelle Daza as his partner against the YHs) and a three-point shootout (narrowly losing to reigning 3-pt king Chris Tiu) during that event.

On Monday, he held a general press conference with the media in the morning, with the general consensus from the discussion being the following:

1. He knows he is ready to play for this season, and that the best advice he got was from his agent, former Chicago Bulls guard BJ Armstrong, "be patient."
2. He, and the rest of the Chicago Bulls, trusts and buys into Tom Thibodeaux system. (Thibs has been criticized for overextending some of his players, namely Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.) He also believes that Thibs is a genius, especially on the defensive end.
3. He has a hand with the regards to the design of his shoes. (If you remember, one of the criticisms in the immediate aftermath of Rose's injury was that the shoe was partially to blame)
4. The concept of his logo (as seen on top) was that with his family in mind. 3 petals for his brothers. the center represents his mom and looks like a 1.
5. He wants to play for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.

The adidas D Rose Tour is supported by the official hotel partner, Marriott Hotel, the official hydration partner, Powerade and the venue partners Smart Araneta Coliseum and SM Mall of Asia.

The Central Division NBA Preview

Chicago Bulls - 50-16 record last season. Division Champions. 1st seed in the playoffs. Lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah / Kirk Hinrich, Marco Bellinelli, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Nazr Mohammed

Storyline/s: Derrick Rose's ACL. Is Luol Deng a capable go-to-guy?

X-Factor/s: Can Kirk Hinrich be the best stand-in that he could be of Derrick Rose?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Cleveland Cavaliers - 21-45 record last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Kyrie Irving, C.J. Miles, Omri Casspi, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao / Daniel Gibson, Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Tyler Zeller

Storyline/s: The development of Kyrie Irving into a bonafide leader continues under Byron Scott's stewardship. Will the Cavs dangle out Varejao again for future assets?

X-Factor/s: Is Tristan Thompson ready to take the next step? Can Dion Waiters immediately contribute?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs

Detroit Pistons - 25-41 record last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Brandon Knight, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Jonas Jerebko, Greg Monroe / Will Bynum, Corey Maggette, Kyle Singler, Austin Daye, Jason Maxiell, Andre Drummond

Storyline/s: Can the growth process for these Pistons lead to contending for the bottom end of the playoff picture?

X-Factor/s: Jonas Jerebko was a key cog for the Pistons before he got hurt. Now he's back.

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Indiana Pacers - 42-24 record last season. 3rd seed in the playoffs. Lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Ideal Rotation: George Hill, Paul George, Danny Granger, David West, Roy Hibbert / D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Tyler Hansbrough, Ian Mahinmi

Storyline/s: With Derrick Rose out, the division can be had. Can the team that finished second take advantage? However, Granger got himself injured, and the Pacers may now just be in the same boat as Chicago.

X-Factor/s: With Granger sidelined, can Paul George unlock the huge potential within him?

Prognosis: Division Champions. Exiting in the Conference Semifinals.

Milwaukee Bucks - 31-35 record last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, Mike Dunleavy, jr., Ersan Ilyasova, Samuel Dalembert / Beno Udrih, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Tobias Harris, Ekpe Udoh, Drew Gooden, Joel Pryzbilla

Storyline/s: The Bucks relatively stood pat in the off-season, their only key move was keeping Ersan around. They did manage to swing a deal for Samuel Dalembert, and drafted John Henson. Is it enough to move up amidst the Eastern flux? The pressure is on for Scott Skiles.

X-Factor/s: Can Tobias Harris make the necessary improvement?

Prognosis: Exiting in the 1st round of the playoffs.

White Mamba Retrospective

Recently, Brian Scalabrine announced his retirement from the NBA and move to the commentary booth of the Boston Celtics.

On its YouTube channel, the NBA, probably one of the best with regards to its use of social media, decided to honor the former Net, Celtic and Bull with a little tribute package.



It won't be long before the legendary 12th Man icon gets the Bobblehead treatment.

The 2011 Eastern Conference Finals on TNT.

I am Taj. Hear me roar.

Well, Game 1 has already passed us by, and what a game it was. For Chicago fans, that is. Bulls come out like gang busters in the 2nd half and paved the way for the manhandling that went on from there. For Miami fans, they want to shake this one off as fast as they could until tip-off for Game 2 begins.

After the jump, here is the much belated preview of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.


Schedule of Games (times are in local time at Chicago):

Game 1: at Bulls, 7 p.m., Sunday, TNT 103-82 win for Chicago

Game 2: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 18

Game 3: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 22

Game 4: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 24

*Game 5: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 26 

*Game 6: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 28

*Game 7: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 30

*If necessary

It's kind of odd seeing a huge time gap from Game 1 to 3, but then again, that Oprah has much pull.

Regular Season Matchup:  Bulls won all three games by relatively small margins. It is important to note, though that Lebron James missed the first meeting. And the Chris Bosh 1/18 shooting game was their second meeting.

What should Miami do: Lebron and Dwyane have finally gotten over the Boston hump. Now they should assert themselves and go for the big kahuna. Ditto for Chris Bosh, who needs to keep the likes of Noah and Boozer off the boards. There is a need for the bit players to make more contributions, from James Jones making three's to effective quarterbacking from Mario Chalmers.

What should Chicago do: Play together and defend. Thibodeau was the man who devised the Boston defense that steered them to two Finals appearances and one NBA title. They have guys whom they can put on Lebron and Wade (Bogans, Deng, Brewer). The bigs controlled the boards 19-6 on the offensive end in Game 1. Derrick Rose should be able to control pace and knife his way through things.

X-Factor/s: For Chicago, it's Taj. You saw for yourselves what he did. Can he follow that up with more of it? As for the Heat, it's Bosh. Because the Heat cannot afford to have him being dominated on by Noah and / or Boozer.

The pick: Bulls in 6. 20 years after Michael Jordan makes his NBA Finals debut and staking his claim on behalf of his generation, Derrick Rose makes his debut to represent the 00s.

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

C/o ESPN

From the original 8, there are now just four teams left in the East. Congratulations are in order for Chicago, Miami, Boston and Atlanta. Happy trails to Orlando, New York,  Philadelphia and Indiana. Let's see how the teams and match-ups fare for this round:




1 - Chicago vs 5 - Atlanta

Regular Season  Matchup: Chicago won with 2-1 edge. All 3 games were in a span of 3 weeks in the month of March, so they already had Kirk Hinrich in tow. Josh Smith did not play in the first meeting, which was the only one that the Hawks won and was the only close game. The other two meetings were major Chi-town blowouts. Speaking of which, the second game (and first blowout) did not feature Carlos Boozer.

Keys for the Bulls: Derrick Rose went nova on the Hawks, scoring 34 and 30 in their final two meetings. Considering Kirk Hinrich is nursing a strained hamstring, the mismatch got even bigger. In both of their blowouts, they had a huge edge in rebounds, taking advantage of their athletic bigs. There is a slight concern with the ankle, though. Luol Deng has been playing well, but he is mainly benefiting from the presence of Rose and what he does as well as the attention to Boozer.

Keys for the Hawks: They pretty much frustrated Orlando in such a way that it absolutely was putrid to watch their games. Yes, it was really that difficult to watch how ugly this series got offensively. They might have to do the same thing to the probable MVP Derrick Rose. Larry Drew must realize that they don't have much depth, so they'll have to keep things close and not allow Chicago to pull away. As such, he must also figure out a way to minimize the Iso-J**** (Joe, Josh, Jamal) situations a.k.a. Clogged Toilet offense that stops ball flow. Atlanta needs to be efficient with their offense knowing their limitations.

X-Factor/s: Jamal Crawford will be absorbing most of Kirk's minutes, while Jeff Teague will be a nominal starter just like Jason Collins. Hawks cannot afford to have bad nights, so Crawford needs to get buckets. Bulls need better numbers from Carlos Boozer, who struggled mightily in the last playoff series.

Prediction: Bulls in 5.

2 - Miami vs 3 - Boston

Regular Season Matchup: Boston won with a 3-1 edge, winning the first three. It is important to note that all three wins by Boston came before the Kendrick Perkins trade. The first two games also featured Udonis Haslem for Miami, who then got hurt. Also playing in two games were the O'Neals. Shaq played in the first two, Jermaine played in the first and the last. Delonte West only played in their final meeting. The three Boston wins were close to an extent, but the Miami win was a huge blowout.

Keys for the Heat: The supporting cast. Sure, they probably have the best collection of young studs, but they can only get you so far. Will Mike Bibby, Mike Miller and James Jones be enabled to shoot? Can their collection of bigs get the job done down low, or in Z's case, make the 15 foot jumper?

Keys for the Celtics: The supporting cast. All three wins in their regular season faceoff also had a role player making a major contribution, from Glen Davis to Nate Robinson to even Von Wafer. They'll need that because it will entail a massive effort from Paul Pierce to have to deal with limiting Lebron James. Oh, and Rondo needs to get off his funk. Sure, he eviscerated the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the past game or two, but his form has been off in general compared to how he got serious MVP votes

X-Factor/s: Shaq did not play in the first round against the Knicks. He did not play in Game 1, but he did travel to Miami. As they traded away Kendrick Perkins, it is a must that Shaq plays. On the other hand, Joel Anthony has been the solid defensive presence to complement Chris Bosh, something sorely missing due to Udonis Haslem's injury. Can he keep that up? We'll see.

Prediction: Celtics in 6.