Andrew Bynum and picks traded for Luol Deng

The Cleveland Cavaliers have found a taker for their oft-injured big man, Andrew Bynum (213 cm). The Cavs are sending his contract and several draft picks to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for British-Sudanese, All-Star forward Luol Deng (206 cm, Duke’04).

As reported on NBA.com:

In addition to sending Bynum’s contract to Chicago, the Cavaliers also conveyed to the Bulls a future draft pick via the Sacramento Kings (Sacramento’s conditional regular first round selection in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 otherwise, Sacramento’s 2017 regular second round pick if it falls between 31-55).

Cleveland also conveyed to Chicago the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2015 and 2016 regular second round draft picks, which were held by the Cavaliers. In addition, if Cleveland is not in the NBA Draft Lottery in 2015, the Bulls have the right to switch regular first round selections with the Cavaliers.

Cleveland fills a long-time need at small forward by acquiring Deng and at the same time unload Bynum, who was already banned from attending team activities due to behavior deemed “detrimental to the team.” Deng is an established scorer with a solid game. He was averaging 16.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg in his NBA career.

The Bulls on the other hand, are expected to quickly waive Bynum and shed the remaining $6.3 million of his 2013-14 salary which is not guaranteed if he is waived. At the end of the day, the Bulls were after some flexibility thanks to picks and are now poised to go after some of the hot free agents expected to hit the market this 2014. Bynum has had multiple procedures and surgeries done on his ailing knees and has even admitted at the start of the season that he has lost some of his explosiveness, an asset he once used to be a dominant force in the paint when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers.