Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is playing like an MVP. Forward Carlos Boozer and center Joakim Noah finally are healthy and on the court together.
They all make the Bulls serious contenders in the Eastern Conference.
As important as those three are, Bulls coaches and players said the team would not have withstood the injuries to Boozer and Noah without the reliably consistent play of versatile forward Luol Deng.
Perhaps overlooked at times, Deng is not undervalued by his team.
In Chicago's 87-86 victory against the Miami Heat on Sunday, Deng played a game-high 42 minutes, 36 seconds and had 18 points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal. His three free throws in the final 17.3 seconds won the game.
Deng is strong offensively and defensively. He can start or run with the second unit. The Bulls run plays for him and through him. They can have him defend a shooting guard or a power forward.
"When you look at the teams that have had success over the years, there's always a guy like that," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I don't like to take him off the floor, because whatever you need he provides."
Thibodeau is serious. Deng was fifth in the NBA in minutes a game (39.2) and one of six players averaging at least 17 points, six rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.9 steals.
Deng has had such statistics for a large part of his career. But because of Chicago's limited success in the past two seasons and because of Rose's outstanding play this season, Deng doesn't always get the credit.
Deng, 25, is unfazed by the lack of recognition. "As long as my teammates and coaches are satisfied with what I'm doing, it makes me happy with what I'm doing," Deng said.
Deng, a seven-year NBA veteran who played one season at Duke, recognizes Thibodeau's arrival as Bulls coach this season has helped his game. Thibodeau implemented a style that fit Deng: tough defense and an offense with ball movement.
"Coach's system has been great for me because I know what we're doing," Deng said. "My whole career, I've liked structure. My high school was very organized. When I played with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) at Duke, it was very organized. I like a system."
Thibodeau's system allows the Bulls to capitalize on Deng's versatility. On offense, Deng is used in the pick-and-roll, off screens, on post-ups and one-on-one.
"If you're not paying attention to him, he can do a lot of damage," Thibodeau said. "He does everything."
Deng is doing it even as he remains involved in his native Sudan. A refugee who left with his family when he was 5, he lived in Egypt and England before moving to the USA when he was 14.
Sudan has been marred by a violent civil war. But in a referendum in early January, Sudanese in the south voted to secede from the north and become a separate country.
Deng hired buses to bring Sudanese refugees living in Michigan to a voting center in Illinois.
"Anywhere you have kids, there's a future," said Deng, who visited Sudan during the summer for the first time since leaving in the early 1990s. "The referendum, I think it's great."
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