Sources: Deng, Bulls on verge of six-year, $70M deal

Derrick Rose was the No. 1 overall pick in last month's NBA draft, but Luol Deng still ranks as the Chicago Bulls' cornerstone player.

That status appeared to be slammed home Tuesday night when NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that Deng and the Bulls, after more than a year of slow-moving negotiations, are suddenly on the verge of completing a new contract that will keep the restricted free agent in Chicago.

With Deng committed to leaving for England by week's end to join Great Britain's national team -- and insisting to the Bulls that he would not negotiate with them further without a deal by Friday -- sources said that the sides have verbally agreed on a new six-year pact believed to be worth in excess of $70 million.

Sources said that Deng's agent, Jason Levien, flew into Chicago to spend Tuesday at the Bulls' offices finalizing the deal, which could be announced as soon as Wednesday.

Given his modest background growing up in the Sudan and Egypt before moving to London, Deng stressed to the Bulls that he was not bluffing when he vowed to play next season on a one-year qualifying offer worth about $4.5 million for the right to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2009.

The Bulls then gradually raised their offer to a higher annual average that Deng turned down in October, when Chicago was limited to offering him a five-year extension and presented the 6-foot-9 forward with a five-year package worth $57.5 million. As ESPN.com reported earlier this month, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf chose to personally handle the bulk of the negotiations with Deng's camp as opposed to the standard practice of Bulls general manager John Paxson serving as lead negotiator.

Deng, 23, couldn't avoid being dragged down by the Bulls' nightmarish 2007-08 season, with Chicago never recovering from the contract extensions that he and teammate Ben Gordon failed to secure in October and smothering speculation about a trade for Kobe Bryant.

The Bulls ultimately netted a 33-49 record that cost coach Scott Skiles and interim replacement Jim Boylan their jobs, while Deng played in just 63 games and averaged 17.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, down slightly from the numbers in his breakout 2006-07 season (18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 51.7 percent shooting from the floor) when the Bulls went 49-33 and swept the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

But Deng is said to be excited by the Bulls' appointment of rookie coach Vinny Del Negro after Chicago's near-agreements with coaching veterans Mike D'Antoni and Doug Collins. He can now head overseas at week's end with no concerns about the future, having achieved long-term security.

Deng's focus will soon shift to trying to help his new national team qualify for the 2009 European Championships. The versatile forward received a British passport in October 2006 and is central to the restoration of Great Britain's basketball program under American coach Chris Finch. Deng also serves as an official ambassador for the 2012 Olympics to be held in London.

The immediate prospects for Gordon, by contrast, are much harder to gauge. ESPN.com reported earlier this month that there is some sentiment in the Bulls' organization to keep Kirk Hinrich -- a Reinsdorf favorite -- and play him at shooting guard alongside Rose and Deng while attempting to move Gordon via sign-and-trade. Sources said Tuesday that Gordon indeed has been shopped by the Bulls this month in various sign-and-trade scenarios.

Gordon, who also holds a British passport, this week publicly acknowledged that he would consider following the lead of Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Childress by accepting a lucrative offer overseas, although his preference is to stay with the Bulls.

Asked about Deng's vow to break off all talks with the Bulls if a deal wasn't completed in time for him to leave for Team GB, Gordon told the Chicago Sun-Times: "I don't blame him for making that move. At some point in time, you have to be the aggressor. It's kind of like we've been negotiating since last summer. I don't think there's any reason why it should be dragged out this long, and he feels the same."

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.

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