Luol Deng will return to the Chicago Bulls for his 5th season in the NBA and with the Chicago Bulls after signing a new contract with the Bulls this summer.

Things didn’t always look like they would go well in the Deng negotiations. In mid-July, Luol Deng gave the Bulls an ultimatum. Deng reportedly told the Bulls sign me, or I am taking the qualifying offer and not negotiating with you [The Bulls] next summer. Then two days later, a Greek news source broke a story that stated that the Greek club, Olympiakos, had offered Luol Deng a $23 million over 2 year deal, which Manouselis, the Olympiakos general manager, later refuted.

In he end, Luol Deng agreed to a $71 million contract, that could be worth as much as $80 million after incentives with the Bulls.

Deng then went on to spend the summer under the tutelage of Chris Finch, playing for Chris Finch, for the Great Britain National Team. For awhile, it looked like Deng may never play for Great Britain because of an insurance issue. Deng’s back was one of MetLife’s 14 body part exclusions. Eventually, Deng was cleared to play after Great Britain officials came up with $500,000 to pay for supplemental insurance.

Luol Deng and Great Britain were able to qualify for the 2009 European Championship after winning Group D. They started off the tournament with a disappointing overtime loss to Israel. Deng had 30 points and 3 blocks in this game. Great Britain redeemed themselves by beating the Czech Republic 87-68. Deng finished this game with 21 points. Great Britain won their next game against Bosnia and Herzeogovina 82-74. Deng finished the game with 29 points. Luol Deng scored 21 points as Great Britain beat the Czech Republic 67-63 to claim their spot in the 2009 European Championship.

During the European Championship qualifying games, Deng did a pretty good job scoring the ball for international play, but it is hard to see that transferring over to the NBA. In the European Championships, Deng had turnover problems, often traveling, carrying the ball, and sometimes dribbling it off his legs.

Deng worked hard during the summer to try to become a first option.He worked out at IMG Academy with David Thorpe. He worked on improving putting the ball on the floor and driving to the basket from about 19 feet out. He has worked on his three point shooting, a Scottie Pippen bank shot, and his dribbling. He has been working on moves that will help him become a number one option.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Deng doesn’t have it in him to be a quality first option in the NBA, but that’s alright. The Bulls have Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon who can be the first two scoring options on the team. Deng can play off of those two, and be quite successful in that third option role.

This will be a bit of a redemption year for Deng. Last year, he struggled as a result of a back injury, which came as the result of an achilles injury. Deng will look to make up for his poor showing last season, although Deng has struggled early on in preseason.

The big question is, will Luol Deng live up to his $80 million contract? The answer depends on what you will be looking for out of Deng. If you expect him to be a first option for that kind of money, you likely will be disappointed. If you expect Deng to just be a good second or third option behind Rose and Gordon, than Deng will probably succeed in living up to his contract.