In the earliest of hours on Tuesday morning, perhaps just as Jameis Winston was spraying his first bottles of sparkling water at the Rose Bowl (he's only 20, people!), the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a deal that puts in no uncertain terms where these two franchises stand.
Luol Deng, the longest-tenured Bull who helped usher in the first era of competence post-Michael Jordan, was shipped to Cleveland in exchange for Andrew Bynum and a whole host of picks. Cleveland sent a protected first-rounder leftover from the laughable J.J. Hickson-Omri Casspi trade, the ability to swap non-lottery picks in 2015 and two second-round picks along with one disgruntled 7-footer.
Bynum, of course, was not traded for as a player—but a mere commodity. The Bulls officially announced they had waived Bynum by midafternoon, skirting under the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline where his contract would have been guaranteed.
By releasing Bynum and shedding Deng's salary from its cap hold, Chicago will save about $20 million—enough to take the team below the NBA luxury tax and help avoid the punitive repeater tax in the fu ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Tyler Conway
Luol Deng, Andrew Bynum Trade Highlights Divergent Paths of Bulls and Cavaliers
January 7th, 2014 by Tyler Conway Leave a reply »
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