The Fig Cap: Everybody get down tonight. Everybody Luol Deng tonight.

Ron Chow is doing fine. He’s not sick. He’s not having relationship issues. He’s not stressed at work. He just has other things going on and needs to step away. Hopefully it is temporary. In the meantime, you can catch the little tribute for Ron here. Ron and I are co-managing a team in our Dropping Dimes Experts League this year. Luol Deng was drafted by Nels at Give Me The Rock with the 13th pick in the 3rd round, the 41st pick overall. Here, his name took quite a bit longer to come off the board.

Round 6, Pick 3: Luol Deng, SG/SF, Chicago Bulls

Here is a breakdown of Deng’s stats over the last three seasons.

2004-05: 61 GP, 27:18 Min, 43.4 FG%, 74.1 FT%, 0.5 3pg, 11.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.4 bpg, 1.9 topg
2005-06: 78 GP, 33:23 Min, 46.3 FG%, 75.0 FT%, 0.3 3pg, 14.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.6 bpg, 1.4 topg
2006-07: 82 GP, 37:30 Min, 51.7 FG%, 77.7 FT%, 0.0 3pg, 18.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.6 bpg, 1.9 topg

These are the keys to analyzing Deng’s game for the coming season.

1.He has established himself as a go-to guy.
Look at the increase in playing time. More than ten extra minutes of playing time compared to his rookie year and the development in his game has led to significant increases in the bread and butter categories that are points and rebounds.

2. Use his versatility as an advantage for your fantasy team.
Even his lowest rebounding average from his three year career (5.3 in 2004-05) is a lot for a player eligible at shooting guard. Last year’s 7.1 boards a game is big time. If all of the forwards and centers on a fantasy team averaged seven rebounds a game, chances are you win that category every week. He has cut out (or maybe the Bulls coaches have cut out) the three-point attempts in his game, and this has significantly improved his FG%. This is an asset anywhere on your team, but there are not that many shooting guards that shoot better than 50%. Similarly his almost 78% free throw shooting and 1.2 steals a game from last year match up well against other forwards.

3. Low assists, but also low turnovers.
Do not draft players just based on how much they turn the ball over. It will make you say stupid things like, “I’m not going to draft Steve Nash because he will lead the league in turnovers.” There are a lot of things to like about Nash’s fantasy game. Nevertheless, turnovers are commonly used in fantasy basketball leagues. Deng plays to that strategy.

4. Make sure you draft shooters.
There are ways to exploit Deng’s skills by playing him at shooting guard, but normally that’s a spot where moneyballs are counted on coming from. So you will have to have a few players that can make it rain from outside. This team for example, employs Michael Redd, and Jason Kidd and Brandon Roy should also be decent three-point threats.

Deng has a chance of making the all-star team this year. Draft him with confidence.

Peace.

Other Players on this Fantasy Team:
1.10 Chris Bosh, PF/C, Toronto Raptors
2.3 Jason Kidd, PG, New Jersey Nets
3.10 Michael Redd, SG, Milwaukee Bucks
4.3 Brandon Roy, PG/SG, Portland Trail Blazers
5.10 Ben Wallace, PF/C, Chicago Bulls

Previous Picks this Round
6.1. Jason Terry, PG/SG, Dallas Mavericks
6.2 David West, PF, New Orleans Hornets

Previous Round Selections
Round One Recap
Round Two Recap
Round Three Recap
Round Four Recap
Round Five Recap