Sometimes, people want to think about things for awhile. Our main man, Kazz, wanted to let the Loul Deng-Andrew Bynum simmer a bit before making up his mind about the trade. Consider it to be a Crock-Pot analysis versus your fast food hot sports take. Did I just create that out of thin air? YUP. Follow Kazz on the Twitter.
A week ago an agreement was made and Cleveland Cavaliers sent Andrew Bynum to Chicago Bulls for Luol Deng and draft picks. It sent some tremors around the NBA world, as fans reacted with an explosion of different emotions. Some were happy, some maybe more moderate, pleasantly satisfied[1] is another way to describe some. And of course there were the upset folk. The shortsighted, the long term thinkers, and so on. Well, I took a week to think formulating my own opinion before I reacted right away. I would love for you to take a look.Andrew Bynum: I cannot make an evaluation of this trade without starting out with this our boy Bynum. I want to ask him 'How it feels to take an elephant-sized shit in the middle of Quicken Loans Arena?' But in reality I would not be able to say it to his face, so I immediately take back what I said. Maybe this is an extremist version of my real question... I would not have a problem asking him if he respects the game of basketball at all. A couple years ago, I thought he was going to over take Dwight Howard's spot as the game's best center. Bynum knocked on the door step too. In 2011-12 he averaged 18.9 points per game (20th in the NBA) 11.8 rebounds per game (3rd) 1.9 blocks per game (6th). Dominant numbers across the board.
Bynum showed what now has to be perceived as his true colors. In the playoffs of his ’11-’12 campaign, he decided he did not want to play anymore and completely leveled JJ Barea. A moment you can relive by clicking here.
The clothesline heard around world sparked the onslaught of bad decisions that can be highlighted by hurting his knee bowling plus wearing his hair like this, this and this. The time he decided that he did not want to play at all for Philadelphia Sixers. The time, he openly stated his knees are not the same after signing a lucrative contract. This one is not really his fault more media-generated, but even the fact that anyone would make up that he did not even have his heart in the game anymore. It was just a excessive pile up that eventually led Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to snap and try to get rid of him at all costs.
In my opinion, the reason why many people hate Bynum now is because it is impossible to believe he does not have anything left in the tank, and it seems like he somehow is scheming his way to get on Miami. And of course, when he joins the Heat, everyone is expecting him to just turn it on again. If that happens, he will be one of the (if not the greatest) sports villain in the last two decades and maybe beyond. For the sake of Andrew Bynum’s moral soul, I hope that it does not turn out that way.
Chicago Bulls: As a fan, this trade turned me off. I like Chicago because of the brand of basketball that Tom Thibodeau brings to the table. They play hard. They play together and they play with toughness. The focus at the start of the season tried to integrate Derrick Rose back into the offense. It did not go great and eventually Rose was compromised.
Losing Rose knocked the Bulls to the ground. But Thibs had their backs and they were back on their feet. A week after the Deng trade their record stands at 17-18, good for the fifth seed in the East. By seasons end they will be top four, and before trading Deng they had seven players not named Derrick Rose averaging 10 plus points per game. They were winning as a team and with good basketball players.
Deng was a major part of the attitude that Chicago had night in and night out. A quiet, hard worker, that comes to work with his lunch pail (he rarely sits) and wants to compete on both ends. To me, Joakim Noah were the soul of this team, and Deng had the heart.
Noah ended up being mad enough to boycott the media for a number of days, before ensuring the Chicago was not tanking and would be giving 150% effort. A message I’m sure that Coach Thibodeau appreciates.
No matter how upset Thibodeau is short term, long term Chicago did do some nice things. It is now known that Deng was mistreated medically last year, and that he and his agent had a problem with it. This meant Deng's return to this team became highly unlikely. Therefore Chicago noticed this, and being notorious penny-pinchers, decided to take the option of clearing space now by cutting Bynum (Obviously getting ready for the summer's free agents), acquiring future draft picks and putting more stress on Thibodeau’s horse voice.
To me, Bulls won from a business side because any time you have the opportunity to dangle talent in front of a “win-now” crazed owner especially one in your own division you have to do it. But as a fan of what the Bulls had in Chicago, I was bummed. I like Luol in Chicago, but I have no say in anything for some reason.
Cleveland Cavaliers: I think they lost the trade. While Deng helps out this year, at best Cleveland is a seven seed and they are getting absolutely dismantled by either Indiana or Miami. They did get rid of Bynum, but losing draft picks hurts in my opinion. Especially in two years, when Deng is not on the team, and the Bulls are using their pick. I always wish the best for Cleveland, but I think they made a mistake here. They might as well have just cut Bynum themselves and kept the draft picks.
The most interesting element of this trade is obviously the way the rest of Bynum’s season plays out. Again, if Bynum shows up for whatever team he ends up on, that is seriously fucked up. I should come up with a better way to say that, but it would be utterly ridiculous to see a pro athlete baby his way around the league and eventually get what he wants like a spoiled five year old. I would not be down for that, and Bynum would have to go down in history as the biggest dog of all-time.
Long way to go before we know what will be final outcome of this one, but I am excited to watch its developments.
-Kazz
[1] A list of other pleasantly satisfying things: Pizza, White Russians, Fela, Bucks Wins, A glass of wine, A good book, a warm fire, fellatio.
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