Luol Deng has not seen much action during his Minnesota Timberwolves tenure, but Tom Thibodeau still believes he fills a valuable role for the club. In fact, Thibs is comparing Deng to another one of his former players who filled the role of the bench veteran.
“He’s sort of in the role of Kurt Thomas when I was in Chicago,” Thibodeau said to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “We knew (Thomas) would be ready. He filled in and did a great job.
“Lu’s a voice of reason. He says the right things, does the right things. He’s not in the rotation and he comes in every night to shoot. I think that example is key for our players. Luol’s probably not the same guy he was five years ago, but he’s still good. He’s capable of playing well in a game. I know that.”
There's something to be said for the veteran who can provide some leadership even though he may not be a consistent fixture in the rotation.
That being said, Thibs has shown no indication that he is willing to play Deng in meaningful minutes. The veteran's only two games of action this season came in 30-point blowouts. Furthermore, Thibodeau is not the type of coach who is willing to experiment with lineups and rotations. On the contrary, Thibs will rarely go deep into his bench and typically features one of the shortest rotations in the league.
So while Tom Thibodeau might be paying lip service in his praise of Luol Deng, don't expect to see it translate into anything on the court.
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