The Los Angeles Lakers reached an agreement with free agent forward Luol Deng on a four-year, $72 million dollar deal Saturday morning, according to The Vertical.
Free agent Luol Deng has reached agreement on a four-year, $72 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2016
Deng leaves the Miami Heat after two years with the franchise. He played in 74 games last season, averaging 12.3 points, six rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1 steal per game. The Lakers will be his fourth NBA team over his 12-year career. Prior to Miami, he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls.
While never a superstar, the former No. 7 overall pick in the 2004 draft made two All-Star teams with the Bulls in 2012 and 2013 and led the league in minutes per game in those seasons.
Deng, 31, is past his prime as a player, but he still stands to give the Lakers a valuable veteran presence to locker room that needs a guiding voice. He has a stellar reputation around the league and should be a solid mentor to the Lakers’ promising young core of Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and incoming No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram.
The Lakers have already come to terms with center Timofey Mozgov on a four-year, $64 million deal, and they also re-signed Clarkson, a restricted free agent, to a four-year, $50 million contract during this free agency period.
Deng is the second Heat wing to leave the team in free agency. Joe Johnson also reached an agreement with the Utah Jazz Saturday morning on a two-year, $22 million deal.
[The Vertical/Photo: Getty Images]
