The Bulls won their first game since trading Luol Deng, beating the Suns 92-87 last night, but the victory, Chicago’s third straight, didn’t pull the club any closer to the division-leading Pacers, who also won their third in a row. Indiana’s 13-game lead in the Central is by far the biggest margin between any division leader and second-place team in the NBA. Let’s round up a few items from out of that Central Division:
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wonders why the Cavaliers have yet to assign No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett to the D-League to help him develop, a topic which has been discussed among executives at this week’s D-League Showcase in Reno.
- Derrick Rose and his camp don’t have a leg to stand on if they’re unhappy with the Bulls‘ decision to trade Deng, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Publicly, team management has indicated that Rose has shown no indication of being upset with the Bulls’ direction, despite whispers that the star point guard wouldn’t be on board with a rebuilding period.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel is skeptical that the Bulls will be a serious candidate to land LeBron James this summer, but acknowledges that Chicago will likely be linked to many players leading up to free agency.
- Klay Thompson tells Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) that he thought there was a 90% chance he’d end up being drafted by the Bucks back in 2011.