The current main article on Yahoo Sports is On the Clock. In the article, Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Luol Deng has given the Bulls an August 4th ultimatum to resolve his contract situation. If the Bulls cannot meet Deng’s demands, Deng will take the one year qualifying offer.

The reason for this ultimatum is to allow Deng to play for Great Britain in the European Championship qualifying tournament. Deng will need to be under contract before starting play with them for insurance reasons, so the $4.5 million qualifying offer is better than nothing. Ben Gordon, who also plans to play for Great Britain, previously stated that he would not play for Great Britain if he was not under a long term contract. So Bulls fans probably don’t have to worry about Gordon setting a similar ultimatum because he will not play for Great Britain this summer on a one year qualifying offer.

The alarming part of Wojnarowski’s article is that Deng will not come back after this season if he chooses to accept the one year qualifying offer, although it’s hard to believe he will not at least listen to what the Bulls have to say.

If either Deng or Gordon choose to take the one year qualifying offer, they will receive veto power to trades. They will likely turn down all trades, because they will not have Larry Bird rights for the team that they’re traded to.

The Bulls only have two weeks left to meet Deng’s demands.

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