The speculation about Luol Deng being traded has been rampant all season, but this latest bit of Carlos Boozer news has some sizzle to it.
The New York Daily News is reporting that the Chicago Bulls are looking to trade Luol Deng, and use the amnesty provision on power forward Carlos Boozer.
The Bulls’ game-plan for the immediate future is coming into focus. League sources with knowledge of Chicago’s plans say that they’ll definitely be looking to deal Luol Deng before the Feb. 20 trading deadline. Deng is a free agent this summer and the Bulls don’t want to pay him anything close to top dollar. The second part of their house-cleaning: They intend on using their amnesty move this coming summer to part ways with Carlos Boozer. Boozer is scheduled to make $16.8 million next season. As we reported earlier, Derrick Rose has caught wind of the plans and is none too thrilled about being part of a rebuilding project. Tom Thibodeau won’t be very happy with it, either
I have a hard time believing that the Bulls will amnesty Carlos Boozer with a year left on his deal, when they could have done it two seasons ago.
At this point with his contract set to expire in 2015, Boozer is great trade bait for a club trying to shed salary at next years trade deadline.