It has been a rough season for Luol Deng. After being taken out of the Los Angeles Lakers' rotation completely, Deng is forced to watch the team from the sidelines until he's released. With the NBA's trade deadline ending on February 8, Deng will likely stay with the Lakers until the end of the season, unless any buyout happens.

In fact, he may stay longer since there don't appear to be any NBA teams begging for his services. Nonetheless, Deng has done his best to become a mentor and a veteran presence for this young Lakers team. Head coach Luke Walton believes in Deng so much that he would hand over the coaching ranks to the veteran if he had to choose from any of his players, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

Luke Walton is asked: if he had to turn over coaching duties to a player on his roster for one game, who would it be? He pondered for at least 15 seconds and said, “Luol Deng.”

Deng can still play in the NBA at a decent level. He boasts career averages of 15 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game over the course of his career.

However, Deng is owed approximately $36 million over the next two seasons, so it's extremely unlikely that any team trades for that contract, especially since he is already 32 years old. Still, Deng has received constant praise from Walton and the Lakers' organization for his professionalism.

Although Deng isn't receiving any playing time, he hasn't been a distraction all season, and he is working to help mentor the Lakers' youth. Therefore, Walton probably doesn't mind keeping Deng for a while longer.