The Bulls announced Wednesday that forward Luol Deng (strained right calf) will be out "a while" and figures to miss at least two games after an MRI this morning confirmed the injury.

"He has a little calf issue, a little strain," coach Vinny Del Negro said of Deng. "We'll see how he feels, but I think he's gonna be out for a while. I don't know how long."

Also, rookie Taj Gibson is questionable for Thursday's game against the Orlando Magic with plantar fasciitis in both feet. Gibson has been playing with the injury since training camp, but was noticeably hampered in Tuesday's loss against the Utah Jazz. He was scoreless with one rebound before fouling out in 12 minutes.

"I don't know yet," Del Negro said when asked if Gibson would play against the Magic. "His plantar fasciitis was really acting up and he was sore and I sat him today.

"We really have to find some bodies. Maybe we'll just play small tomorrow. Real small. I don't know yet. But it's hard to do that when you have that guy in the middle down in Orlando."

This ought to be fun. Can Derrick Rose single handedly beat any team in the league? We're about to find out.
I want to see Rose guarding Howard.

Maybe management wanted this team to be in the lottery again

Correct me if I'm wrong but even if we did get say a top 10 pick that would screw up our 2010 plan wouldn't it?

I believe you're wrong. We're at $31,861,826 under contract for next year. If the cap drops to $52 million (at the low end of possible estimates and a huge drop from this year). A max contract for anyone except a 10 year vet (including the big 3) is 30% of the cap. At a $52 million cap, that would be $15.6 mil. That would take us to $47.46 million, leaving us $4.54 million remaining under the cap for a draft hold. The rookie salary for the #1 pick next year is $4.4 million.

If the cap winds up being $51 million and we get the #1 pick, we'd probably have to make a move to be able to offer a max deal, but the #1 pick is nearly $500k more than the #2 pick.

At a $50 million cap, we could offer a max deal and afford a $3.1 million draft hold. That would mean we'd have to pick at 5 or later.

How does the whole pick thing workout between the Bulls and Bucks? Is it top 10 protected or something?

Luol Deng spends way too much time on the DL every year. When was the last time he played an entire season? I'm pretty sure it was 2006-07. This guy is a nice 3rd option on the floor, but he's never freaking healthy.

i honestly hope the bulls trade luol this summer. i like luol the person but the guy just cant stay healthy.