Luol Deng – As Good as Ever

They say that perception is reality and on the Chicago sports scene, there may not be a better example of this than Bulls’ small forward Luol Deng.

Deng is currently the second-leading scorer (behind MVP front-runner Derrick Rose) on a Bulls team that improbably is leading the NBA Eastern Conference by 2 games.  He leads the team in minutes played (3^rd in the NBA).  Bulls’ Head Coach Tom Thibodeau speaking of Deng says, “He's our glue. He keeps us together.”  Thibodeau, an acknowledged defensive savant, also praises Deng as “an all-league defender.” 

The media and fans have happily joined in on the Deng Lovefest.  An angle that many NBA writers and analysts have taken to help explain the surprising success of the Bulls is Deng’s sudden emergence as one of the better all-around players in the league.  Fans are heaping praise on Deng’s “new game” that (finally) features solid 3-point range and are touting him for NBA All-Defensive Team honors.

It hasn’t always been so good to be Luol Deng.  After signing a 6-year $80million contract during the summer of 2008, Deng has probably been the team’s least popular player.  He’s been labeled as overpaid, soft, unathletic, injury-prone and weak-willed.  Fans and media complained about his lack of range, inability to create his own shot and that he “disappears at crunch time.”  Some of the cruder Bulls’ fans began referring to him as “Dung” (delighted no doubt by their rapier-like wit).  Nearly everyone in Bulls’ Nation wanted to see him traded and a bag of balls was often mentioned as all they wanted in return.  This continued into this season when fans/media lamented that the Bulls couldn’t swing a deal with the Denver Nuggets for superstar small forward Carmelo Anthony principally because the Nuggets had no interest in Deng and his “horrible” contract. 

While he’s never been my favorite Bulls’ player, I’ve always been a Deng fan probably because I weigh defensive performance more heavily than most and appreciate the completeness of Deng’s game.  The big contract he signed didn’t bother me like it did others since 23 year old (at the time he signed his current contract) players of his caliber aren’t very easy to acquire.  As a “Deng Defender,” I have to tell you that it’s been a long and lonely past couple years.

So why all the sudden affection?  Well, there are a couple good reasons and one pretty misguided one.

The most obvious good reason lies in the team’s unexpected success.  The NBA East was supposed to be owned this season by the Lebron-Wade-Bosh led Miami Heat, with many predicting that they would seriously challenge the ’95-’96 Bulls record 72 wins.  The Celtics and Orlando Magic would be the only two teams in the conference with a chance of seriously competing with the Heat.  The Bulls were picked 5^th or 6^th by most.  Yet with only a few weeks remaining in the season, there sit the Bulls atop the Eastern Conference standings by 2 full games over Boston and 2.5 ahead of the unbeatable Heat (who the Bulls swept this season, 3-0).  Taking nothing away from Derrick Rose’s rise to superstardom this season, the chief reason the Bulls are where they are is because of their defense.  Depending on the team statistics you use, the Bulls defense has been #1 or #2 in the league for most of the season and Deng is universally acknowledged as their best defensive player.

A rising tide lifts all boats and Deng and his teammates are all riding high right now.

The other sound reason for Deng’s resurrection is that he’s been healthy.  In fact, he’s the only Bull to start all 71 games this season.  The media/fan criticism that he is “soft” and won’t play hurt is a particularly sore point with Deng.  The truth is that he has a pretty remarkable history of playing with pain, including a stress fracture in 2009 (this was the first season of his new contract and though he tried to play through this injury, he had his worst statistical season and missed nearly half the team’s games and the playoffs), a broken thumb last season and a painful thigh injury a couple weeks ago.  Still, his 71 games so far this season is the 3^rd-highest in his 7-year NBA career.

However, the reason given by most of the reformed Deng-haters is Deng is simply playing much, much better than he ever has…he was bad enough to hate and now he’s good enough to love (or at least like).  As I see it, this is pretty much a simple matter of justifying what I always felt was mostly misguided and misplaced criticism of Deng.  While it’s true that Deng has added the 3-point shot to his offensive arsenal this season, statistically at least, he’s pretty much performing as he always has.  In fact, if the Bulls weren’t doing so well, I have little doubt that all those oh so clever “Dungsters” would say he was having another down season and dragging the team down with him.  

In any case, let’s take a look at Deng’s “breakthrough” current season versus his career numbers (career numbers in parentheses) on a per 36-minute basis:

Points – 16.4 (16.6)

Rebounds – 5.3 (6.6)

Assists – 2.5 (2.3)

Blocks – 0.5 (0.6)

Steals – 0.9 (1.0)

Turnovers – 1.8 (1.8)

Field Goal % - 45.9% (47.1%)

3-point % - 34.6% (32.6%)

True Shooting - 55.0% (53.2%)

Player Efficiency Rating – 15.8 (16.3)

See what I mean?  And it’s not as if Deng has suddenly become a good defensive player.  Pretty much all of his head coaches have consistently praised him for his work on that end of the floor. 

In the end, Luol Deng is very good at the game of basketball.  He’s smart, works hard and is a great teammate.  Players who have played on his teams and coaches who have coached him have known this all along.  Still, if the former haters want to claim that Deng has suddenly morphed into a very good player, I’m OK with it…I’ve always celebrated when perception catches up with reality.  This said, I hope you’ll understand why, when someone in the bar claims that Deng ought to win the “Most Improved Player” award this season, it’s all I can do not to laugh out loud.