Will Deng be good … or great?

Kobe Bryant hasn't arrived at the Berto Center yet, so the Bulls still need a superstar, all-star or even mere star.

Luol Deng, perhaps?

The 6-foot-9 forward appears to be the primary candidate as he enters his fourth NBA season tonight at New Jersey.

Generally, watching tall men in short pants practice is boring. But I had to Tuesday just to see whether Deng had donned a Superman cape or angel's wings during the off-season.

The way Deng is being portrayed, he must be significantly new and his game significantly improved.

Reports here say the Bulls won't include Deng in any deal for Bryant. Reports in Los Angeles say the Lakers won't give Kobe to the Bulls in any deal that doesn't include Deng.

Meanwhile, Bryant reportedly says he wants to be traded to the Bulls but only if Deng is still in Chicago.

"If he says that," Deng said, "that means a lot to me."

My goodness, what has this Deng guy become? The next Michael Jordan? The next Magic Johnson? A hybrid of the two?

Deng is mentioned almost as if he has joined LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and, yes, Bryant himself on the NBA's elite level.

Not so fast, my friend. Until it happens, nobody can be sure Deng or anybody else is ready to make the leap from good to great and winner to champion.

"I don't know," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said of what to expect. "What happens often times is that (a player in Deng's position becomes) a big focal point."

Opponents start sending double-teams at the player, and the player must adjust his game like a batter suddenly seeing curveballs instead of fastballs.

Some can and some can't.

Skiles wouldn't accept the premise that Deng is expected to move up in NBA status just because of the way he has been discussed -- allegedly been discussed, that is -- by all sides of a possible Bryant deal.

Instead, Skiles prefers to look at Deng as being a "22-year-old on the cusp of being a 20-point scorer." To the coach, players at that age and stage have a pretty good record of continuing to improve.

Now all Deng has to do is, well, do it.

"I'm going to come into the season expecting to be better than last year," the Duke product said.

Last season Deng already was good enough to become the most promising of the Bulls' crowded collection of young veterans.

That might not be sufficient this season. Unless Bryant teams with him in sort of a Jordan-Pippen reincarnation, Deng might have to become an effective post-up player at times and the guy with the ball at the end of games.

Considering Deng's work ethic and overall character, a reasonable expectation is that he will reach whatever his potential is.

But what exactly is that? Is he going to be a good player? Or is he going to be the star the Bulls, Lakers and Bryant all seem to want on their side?

"I appreciate both teams wanting me," said Deng, whose scoring average increased last posteason. "The way I played in the playoffs last year, I really have to bring that into the regular season."

If he does, it might be good enough to justify him being the one player in the middle of a Kobe Bryant trade who isn't in it at all.

mimrem@dailyherald.com