CHICAGO – If Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was thrown off by Monday's trade of Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he didn't show it. He was a little subdued when speaking to reporters before the Bulls' Tuesday game against the Phoenix Suns — what coach wouldn't be after losing a two-time All-Star and defensive anchor in the middle of a season already beset with injuries? But his message wasn't that different from what it is before every game.
"We played a number of games without Luol, so I think we have a good understanding of what we'll need," Thibodeau said. "We need everyone."
The Bulls responded. With only nine active players on the roster, they beat the Suns 92-87 to win their third consecutive game and sixth of the last eight, remaining undefeated in the calendar year of 2014.
BOX SCORE: Bulls 92, Suns 87
BULLS: More moves to come?
Thibodeau is used to coaching shorthanded teams. 2010-11 NBA MVP Derrick Rose sat out all of last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the rest of this season with another knee injury. Starting shooting guard Jimmy Butler missed several weeks with a foot injury. Power forward Carlos Boozer is currently out with a sore right knee.
But all of those losses are temporary. Even Rose is expected to be ready to go for the start of training camp. Butler returned from his injury, and Boozer's knee issue isn't expected to be long-term. The loss of Deng is a bit more permanent. He isn't sitting out with a short-term injury with a timetable for a return. He plays for another team now. This time, adapting to change isn't a stopgap solution.
Still, Thibodeau didn't seem fazed. "Obviously, Luol is a big part of our team," he said. "This is the nature of our league. Everybody has to move on. Everybody has a job to do. We have to get out there and get it done.
ANALYSIS: Chicago looks ahead with trade
"It's a thing that I think is special about our team," Thibodeau added. "And it's not a one-year thing, it's a three-year thing. My second year, we had a lot of injuries. Derrick missed half of that season. They rose to that challenge. Last year, again, same thing. A lot of guys down and other guys stepped up and got the job done. Whether it's a trade or an injury, what it leads to is other people getting an opportunity. You're called upon, you get in there, and the guys who are ready will take advantage of it."
With Deng out of the picture, rookie small forward Tony Snell saw a jump in playing time, scoring 12 points and adding 4 rebounds in 21 minutes. Snell started several games earlier this season when Deng and Butler were injured, but now he's going to be thrown into the fire as Thibodeau does everything possible to keep the team competitive even as they have fewer resources to do so.
"It was pretty difficult," Snell said after the game. "Lu was like my big brother. It's a lot of mixed emotions for me, because I get more playing time. But he meant a lot to this organization."
Both before and after the game, the locker room was a tense scene. Deng had been such a staple in that locker room since 2004 that players were somewhat blindsided by the trade. Starting center Joakim Noah, a close friend of Deng, declined to speak to media at the team's morning shootaround as well as before and after the game. Noah was fired up during the game, picking up a technical foul in the first half but scoring 14 points to go along with 16 rebounds and 6 assists.
"Joakim is an emotional guy," Thibodeau said after the game. "That's what drives him, and you don't want to take that away from him. He was close to Luol. I think anytime you've played with someone for an extended amount of time, with all the trials and tribulations that you go through, there's a closeness there. But I think he responded tonight."
Last year, it was Nate Robinson that became Chicago's go-to scorer in the playoffs with Rose hurt. Snell may be the player to step up following the Deng trade. The Bulls might look into signing a player to a 10-day contract ("We do have to add somebody," Thibodeau said), or they could look to make another trade, with veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich the most logical candidate to be moved.
Hinrich is ready for anything. He's been traded before, and didn't appear any more out of sorts than his coach when discussing the Deng trade.
"We all hated to see Lu go," the 10-year veteran said after the game. "He meant a lot as a player to this team, but also as a person. I always had a great relationship with him, and I have the utmost respect for him. I just hope he's doing alright and wish him the best. It's one of those things. He's my friend on a different team now, not my friend on our team."
No matter how the rest of the Bulls' season shakes out (and with an increasingly thin roster, it might not be pretty), Thibodeau doesn't want sympathy. He's been here before, and so has this team.
"This is the NBA," he said. "If you're competitive, you have to look at every situation and view it as a challenge. That's the way I want our coaching staff, all our players and our organization to be.
"We can accept our circumstances for what they are or we can do what we can to change them and turn it into something positive. It's one of the things I admire about our team. They've responded to every challenge."
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