Miami Heat President Pat Riley is very high on small forward Luol Deng, and wants to re-sign the unrestricted free agent this offseason is possible. From Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:
Riley said of Luol Deng: “We’ve got to try to do everything we can do to keep him.”
But that could be difficult because of cap limitations.
“He found his way along with Goran in the middle of the season,” Riley said. “He was defending all the perimeter players; he was getting more space to run and cut. He’s a great leader, high character guy. We love him. I consider him one of our core people.”
Riley recently said that the team’s first priority this season will be re-signing center Hassan Whiteside, though ESPN’s Dan Le Batard reported that their actual first priority will be to make a run at Kevin Durant.
Regardless of what happens with Whiteside and Durant, if they have the cap space, the Heat would obviously love to bring back Deng. This season(his second with the Heat) Deng averaged 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.0 steal in 32.4 minutes per game. He appeared in 74 of Miami’s 82 games, starting all but one of those games. Deng, at the age of 31, is an experienced veteran, and sets a good example for the younger Heat players with his high-IQ play and good defense.
