Luol Deng Discussion: No #Dengdump, Rather Stretched Into Cash

To be fair, in the one game he played last season he was horrible, and then banished to the bench for good. He got his chance, and he looked like some random dude from the gym. Apparently he played 56 games and averaged 26 mpg for us 2 seasons ago, but I don’t remember that at all. I must have blocked it out or something, because I’m trying to remember it and I can only get flashes of him like occasionally making a 3 or grabbing a hustle board, it’s very dream-like.

 

I remember him standing in the corner and missing wide open 3’s, while I yelled at my TV. I think we all remember that photo of the white board. It showed stats on how much time players put into working out or practicing and Deng was on the bottom of the list except for some D league guys.

Guy may not be a locker room problem but he definitely didn’t put in the time in the gym either. He took his 18 million a year and spent it at an all you can eat buffet getting fat.

 

https://www.iol.co.za/sport/basketb...himself-to-lakers-in-nba-africa-game-16374170

Then take the mother****ing buyout man. Leave! Go somewhere else! The truth is he doesn't desperately want to prove himself or he'd have taken a buyout and gotten out of here. He doesn't actually think he's got much left in the tank or he'd have gotten on the court. He was outplayed by the kids. He came into camp in bad shape. I respect the humanitarian Luol Deng, but I've lost a lot of respect for Luol Deng the NBA player.

 

Oh please....nobody believes in you. That’s why it’s been so hard to find a team that’s willing to take on your contract. The only reason Deng thinks he can still play is because athletes are always the he last to know.

Take a buyout and go find that team. I don’t care where it is. Just GTFO mine.

 

I agree, but if he gave up a significant amount to leave, we'd do that too I think. At this point his contract might actually be important for matching purposes, but we've also got a handful of one-year deals to throw around as well.

The point is: he shouldn't play the victim card either. Magic and Rob (especially Magic) shouldn't be as open about wanting him gone, but Deng shouldn't be talking about this as if he's done his best either. We all saw the evidence of him coming in out of shape. We know he's full of crap.

 

That's some serious twisting there. The same quotes as the previous article which, while harsh and illuminating, are not a trade demand.

 

Yeah, he didn’t demand a trade, he just said he can still play. He doesn’t need to demand a trade anyway, I’m pretty sure Magic has been trying to trade him since the day he got here.

 

That's a more fair representation of the situation, but I dont feel bad for him. He took the money, which is completely his right to do. Mitch offered him a deal and he made a business decision.

But with that decision comes strings. Namely: you can't take the money and then get mad when the situation is clearly about the money. Get creative and find a way to leave then. The Lakers dont owe Luol anything. They've single handedly funded his last few humanitarian efforts while expecting nothing back on their return.

None of that is to mention that he hasnt done everything he could to get on the floor. There were times last year when we were riddled with injuries that he could have helped, but we went with G league players instead because he was non-competitive and out of shape. We all saw the board.

I'm sure this is tough for him, but he's got 72 million reasons to toe the company line. If not, give that money back and go play for someone else.