[UPDATE: Deng to play! -ed.]

Brian Hanley, possibly from Mariotti's old desk:

MetLife, the NBA's insurer which covers the top 150 salaries in the league under a group policy, has the right to exclude 14 high-risk players every year.

Decisions are based on the player's injury history and the amount of money remaining on his contract. Deng came under MetLife scrutiny when he signed a $71million, six-year contract at the start of this month. It is the fourth-highest contract in the NBA in terms of outstanding money.

MetLife subsequently used an MRI scan taken last November when Deng, 23, injured his back and missed three games to exclude him from the coverage.

He may or may not play for Great Britain, who have to find a way to get him covered.

Interesting that Deng is deemed 'high-risk' for an injury that didn't cost him much playing time. I'd guess when the next round of contracts come in next summer he'll be pushed off that 'top 14'.

(previously: here, and here)

1. Andrew Wamboldt, going (very) deep into the Bulls luxury tax predicament following the Deng deal, and what it means for Gordon.
   
2. Kelly Dwyer, ruminating on all things Reinsdorf when it comes to this roster. Warning, it's sort of depressing.

I'm quoting the whole thing, because it is damned well done:

This 'negotiation' is really starting to get to me. Especially this permeating (if perhaps still a minority) opinion that it's of such paramount importance that the Bulls don't overpay for Deng and Gordon. This is usually accompanied wit the odd tough-guy talk that the Bulls can just let them go as a preferential alternative to overpaying.

The Bulls drafted these players, they own their rights. The CBA is set up so that it's easier for teams to retain their own players at the expense of their ability to get other team's players. That means it's even more important to draft smart, and sign who you drafted.

This isn't the fiscal responsibility league, and what makes me more willing to see the Bulls 'overpay' for Deng and Gordon is that there's isn't some tremendous downside to them not living up to the contracts. The team would be paying for their prime years, and at worst they're still above-average players. Even if it turns out that their best isn't good enough, they won't be untradeable. Heck, Hinrich (supposedly) still has trade value and I don't see Deng or Gordon ever having a season as bad as he just did.

Paxson made great moves in previous sign/trades, but that was because he was in a position to tear down the team, and guys like Crawford and Curry were unwanted (for different reasons). So draft picks and cap flexibility were enough of a haul. And that's mostly what teams get for the signed and traded.

With this team Paxson can't have that happen. I want Derrick Rose passing to legitimate teammates, not future cap space in jerseys. This team may be young but they have an opportunity to be young and successful. Being awful and cheap doesn't make the Bulls a good destination in the present or future.

Either Paxson failed to draft players worthy of big money, or mismanaged the roster to where the team can't correctly reward them. That could include the foresight of cashing in Deng early for Pau Gasol, or not tossing big money to Andres Nocioni.

If Gordon and Deng walk, the team is starting over. And if that's the case, I wouldn't mind having a new GM get a chance to try the rebuilding plan this time around. He can start early on the Tyrus Thomas contract stalemate.

There's been a lot of comments lately regarding Deng&Gordon and the Qualifying Offer without realizing how poor an option that is for both sides.

First of all, it makes the player believe he's not coming back, and the team treating the player like they're not coming back. Maybe it's a self-fufilling prophecy, but it's borne out that they don't come back. (thanks to paxson43 in the comments)

Follow that link: since 2000, there's only been 4 players coming off their rookie-scale contracts that signed the QO. That's 4 out of 124 eligible draftees. All of them (with Pietrus signing yesterday) wound up on other teams, and only (in the case of Radmanovic) was the team able to deal the player in that season for something (Chris Wilcox).

And it's hard to deal a player under the QO because: " if the player is playing under a one-year contract and will have Larry Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the contract, he can't be traded without his consent.  If consent is granted and the player is traded, then he loses his Larry Bird or Early Bird rights, and enters free agency as a Non-Bird free agent."

The Bird rights are basically a team's ability to go over the salary cap to sign their own free agents. With the way the capped-out NBA is, that's the only way for many of these players to get above the mid-level, either with their own team or through sign/trade.

So, just a reminder when bringing it up: the QO is really a last-resort option, and pretty much a failure in negotiation.

It'll be happening more and more in a post-Sam Tribune, but I've yet to get over the annoying twinge I feel when KC "who will be shopped" Johnson sneaks his opinions into a report.

Deng and Gordon remain supremely confident players, and declining last year's lucrative offers was their right as restricted free agents. But what their decisions also did was signal a shift from the selfless play that had defined the previous three playoff teams to more individual agendas.

[From KC's ass to your ears. (or something.)]

Beyond the awful leap in logic (honestly, this whole post could be a rant over what he's saying), there's a semantic, yet important, error in that paragraph. Deng and Gordon weren't restricted free agents when they turned down the extensions. They were a year away from restricted free agency (i.e., now).

And that is why, when the extensions were offered, it was under the premise that each deal may not be up to perceived market value, but that was because they weren't on the market. They were still contractually under team control whether they signed extensions or not. Signing the extension would be forfeiting their ability to be on that market, in exchange for long-term security.

(It's also why the Bulls didn't really 'negotiate' with Luol or Ben at that time. They didn't have to, and while the players may not have thought so, I thought that tactic was fair. )

Especially after (but not limited to) the relatively poor season they both had, it's been instead framed (apologies to KC, reading John Jackson is a far worse alternative to your work) that at the time, these extensions were a complete gift on the organization's part, and that both players have since proven to not be worth that initial offer based on a bad year.

But that offer was made with the acknowledgement that it wasn't completely market-based. So it's not a given that the Bulls should offer less, the bad season is just one factor thrown in with the others that have changed from 12 months ago: the players being a year older, the ability to offer 6 years instead of 5, the qualifying offer, the new direction of the team, and the market. Not just the teams with cap room, but anybody with a desire to pay can start the mechanizations of  possible sign/trades through agents and their suddenly-disgruntled clients.

What happened last season shouldn't be absolved, but it shouldn't close the book on anything either. I believe, and it's possible that the Bulls believe as well, that both players are worth more than the 5 years and $50m they were offered last season. I wouldn't say too much more (judging by Paxson's pace, there will be plenty of time to get into that), but I'd rather the Bulls be called 'dumb' for coming back with a comparable offer than everyone laughing at the 'dumb' Ben and Luol for turning down the money preseason. While they're playing for another team.

I emailed IMG Exec Director (and ESPN analyst) David Thorpe about this photo of Thomas and Deng at the academy asking about their relative height.

He graciously replied with more information than I asked for , detailing their experience there, and said I could share it with you all here. Commence drooling:

Both guys left on Friday after 2 weeks, and both will return again for lengthier stays. 2 weeks is all I want to see NBA players for this early in the summer. TT will return before summer league, if indeed Vinny wants him to play. Tyrus told Paxson in April that he would love to play in the summer league.

These guys are amazing. Our sessions started at 10am each morning, but both guys arrived no later than 8:30am. Every morning. They had their own pre-practice ritual of warming up, stretching, shooting and dribbling. Then they participated in our version. Our future NBA and European pro players loved them, and respected their attitudes and work ethic. I'm sure Bulls fans will be very happy with what they see from TT, who actually improved in a number of areas last season despite the bad environment.

He is deeply sorry for the missed practice, but there were serious circumstances involved. It was a far more complicated issue than what was known publicly. As Luol told me, TT had never even been late to a practice or meeting one single time prior to that day. I hope Chicago keeps Luol there: he looks incredible and is working so hard at being tougher to defend on the dribble, advancing his post game, and improving his range of his shot.

One interesting note: I paired Kevin Martin with Tyrus for an hour long shooting session one afternoon so TT could watch the little things Kevin does as a shooter/shotfaker. In the last 25 minutes, I can honestly say that Kevin not only never missed a single shot (that I saw), but I never even saw him hit the rim. It was a stunning display of shooting, but afterwards, all Kevin could talk about was how special of a talent Tyrus is. TT also shot very well, had his moves and fakes looking like a pro, and had such a positive disposition that afternoon. I told Kevin that TT is that way every day, as long as he is surrounded by like-minded guys. I believe Vinny will be great for TT, and I told that to Kevin, who responded with "then the Bulls are going to be really good again".

Of course, Thorpe's understandably biased in favor of his pupils, and has frequently included glowing remarks for Bulls players in his ESPN chats. 

But I treat this as a feel-good Father's day post. Tyrus is sort of the son of BaB...or something.