Luol Deng traded to Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Bynum, draft picks

Chicago is currently on a five-game winning streak, winning all three games they’ve played since trading Deng.

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So barring major injuries or perhaps more trades, the Bulls almost seem destined for the playoffs. That might not be best for the long-term, but Thibodeau and his proud Bulls wouldn’t have it any other way.

• The Hook: Luol Deng is the salvation or death knell for Cavs GM Chris Grant

Sentimentality only gets in the way in the cold-hearted business of basketball, a place where loyalty means paying for past performance in future years and there’s simply no room for a curtain call. We all know that luxury tax dollars and amorphous future assets take precedence over a decade of blood, sweat and tears, but it doesn’t exactly lessen the blow when it happens.

The relationship between the player and team really started to sour in 2009. The Bulls misdiagnosed what turned out to be a stress fracture in his right leg and publicly challenged him to play through it. That isn’t an exaggeration. In the news release announcing the injury was this line: “He will be encouraged to challenge himself physically.“ A few weeks later, doctors were advising him not to put any weight the leg.

As mentioned above, Deng is going to be a huge lift at small forward for the Cavaliers. This move shows a clear motive by their front office: Win now. Cleveland went into the season with high expectations after adding another first-overall draft pick to their roster, but Anthony Bennett’s disappointing rookie year could be a perfect analogy for how their 11-23 season has gone up till this point.

For a team that wants in the playoffs now this was a perfect trade. Only time will tell if making the playoffs was the right play for the Cavaliers this season.

Deng makes Cleveland better, and Cavs GM Chris Grant continues to handle his future assets pretty well. At the very least, he knows how to cover his ass, guarding against things going terribly wrong on the court. The problem is that it had to come to this because Grant has been otherwise terrible at building a good team. Witness Grant’s four top-4 picks in the past three drafts.

That Emoji Efficiency Percentage (EEP) is awful, man.

Here’s a full breakdown of the assets exchanged in the deal, via NBA.com:

Chicago was the only team Deng had ever known and was the Bulls’ longest-tenured player since being selected with the No. 7 pick in the 2004 draft. Deng, who turna 29 in April and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of his career. He’s averaging a career-high 19 points per game to go along with 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 45.2 percent shooting. He is regarded as one of the top defensive wings in the league. Deng has made the All-Star Game each of the last two seasons.