Luol Deng is an All-Star small forward and there aren’t many places he could land where he would be a downgrade at the position.
Miami is one of them.
Yet he is a fit — the Heat need a three and they have some cap room. So Pat Riley has gone hard after Deng and appears to be making progress, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.
ESPN sources also say that Miami is making progress in its pursuit of Luol Deng to team him with Chris Bosh and soon-to-reupped Dwyane Wade
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 12, 2014
The Rockets had been targeting Deng but that appears dead.
A lineup of Norris Cole (or Shabazz Napier), Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Chris Bosh would be both entertaining and would put up some points. That’s two bigs who can space the floor and move the ball, guys who work off the ball and some interesting matchup problems. Not a lot of defense but they should score.
That’s a playoff lineup in the East.
Deng is a very strong defender who scores plenty of points as a third scoring option — he’s a good role man and gets hustle points in transition or working off the ball.
There are a lot of questions to be answered in Miami, things are certainly not going to be the same anymore. But with Deng in the fold along with Wade and Bosh, this is a team worth buying a ticket to see.