Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman denies shopping Luol Deng – NBA Update
Chicago Bulls General Manager used the NBA Draft as an opportunity to clear out the rumours surrounding star forward Luol Deng. Forman told reporters that the Bulls were not shopping anyone on the roster to teams around the NBA.
Rumours about an impending trade of Luol Deng were gaining momentum when on Sunday Deng himself acknowledged that there might be some truth in them. This finally prompted Forman to step in and remark that there was no Chicago player being shopped around.
The Bulls General Manager did admit though that discussions between NBA franchises about different players are very normal during this time of the year.
"Were we actively shopping our players? Absolutely not," Forman said. "Are there conversations? All 30 teams have conversations about everybody on their roster.”
Deng has been a very important part of Chicago’s roster in the last couple of seasons and perhaps been there second best player after former NBA MVP Derrick Rose. Deng has virtually locked down the small forward position on the team and is a fan favourite
at Chicago.
Gar Forman confirmed that the Bulls value the core of their current team a lot and were committed to improving it as much as they could.
“But we like the core of this team, and it's our job to continue to try to put pieces around Derrick (Rose) and some of the other core guys and try to continue to trend up."
"We like the direction in which we're headed. It was obviously disappointing how the season ended this season with the injuries.” He said.
The Bulls were on track for a run at the NBA World Championship last season before a season ending injury to Derrick Rose knocked the wind out of them. An injury to centre Joakim Noah also didn’t help matters and the Bulls ended up going out of the playoffs
in the first round, after ending on top in the Eastern Conference standings.
There is no timetable yet for Derrick Rose’s return to the side, and he could even miss out the complete 2012-2013 NBA season. Deng meanwhile also is believed to be carrying a knock but that hasn’t stopped him from going out to represent his country at the
London Olympics 2012.
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