Omer Asik's days with the Chicago Bulls appear to be over. While the organization still hasn't seen the offer sheet Asik has reportedly signed with the Houston Rockets, it seems they have decided to move on without him. A league source confirmed late Saturday night that the Bulls are on the verge of signing veteran center Nazr Mohammed. While the deal hasn't become official yet, the New York Post reported early Sunday that Mohammed has decided to sign with the Bulls over the Brooklyn Nets and both teams have been notified about the decision. Mohammed's addition almost certainly means that the Bulls will not match the three year, $25.1 million dollar offer sheet the Rockets gave Asik. The deal that the Rockets structured would have meant the Bulls would have been on the hook for an almost $15 million cap hit in the final year of the contract. The Bulls decided they did not want to take that type of financial hit given their current cap situation. Mohammed will likely be signed for the veteran's minimum. Read more: http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/8188428/source-chicago-bulls-close-signing-nazr-mohammed
Here comes that parade of aged vets to fill in the minutes for Asik. Nazr won't be the last. We have to use the vet minimum to fill the 12 man roster somehow, and he's it. Not too shabby, IMO, all things considered.
I don't see him replacing Omer. Omer gave us 15 minutes a game. I figure the Bulls will give as many of those 15 to Taj as possible, even if it means playing Booz at C.
Combined post: Minimim 8 peat/Big foam finger. I do understand that a franchise which avoided the lux task isn't goi.g to rism repeat offender status and that would have been a real possibility. Magilla Gorilla at Realgm must be inconsolable.
Until they get the voice to text working properly on iphones, I can't see how it would be worth it to post from one. I'm not inconsolable, but truly bummed to lose Asik. Nazr is not my cup of tea at this point. We'll miss Omer alot! But damn, that 15 million hit would be just crazy to absorb. And I hope for Omer's sake that he isn't crushed by the weight of that contract. That's a lot to live up to.
I still think he'll see the floor regularly, but definitely won't be relied upon at important moments like they did with Asik. He'll be asked to hold down the fort 5 minutes at a time at the end of quarters. Nothing more, nothing less. Booz, Taj, and Noah will all regularly play 30+ minutes a game. If the failure to match is an "Omer, we love ya, but that 15 million is just going to royally mess us up" kind of thing, then I guess I'm alright with it. On this team he's not going to play more than 20mpg, and it's not worth letting more important guys walk for nothing because of his contract. Let him be somebody else's overpaid backup. If this is merely 1 step in the march to get below the luxury tax at all costs....well, that's kind of depressing.
Rosen, it's probably both at once. And so it's alright, and depressing. I do wonder about Bellinelli, and the possibility of Foye and Thomas. The definitely need another back up point. I'd prefer to see Teague in the DLeague, to be honest. Can Foye be the guy? Would they trade away Rip for him? I kind of think not. Ultimately, I'm with Transplant. Damn, I'll miss Omer. Great guy, great D.
The Belinelli + Kirk signing made me think it really is "I'll Play These" A Belinelli + Kirk + Foye signing makes me think "Nooo Luxury Tax....so Goooooodbbyee Rip!" I think Transplant called it. The Bulls are trying to walk a tight rope between financial prudence and leaving the possibility open of going for it if the ball rolls our way. So we're loading up on guys that are good as backups but passable if we need to trade someone and cut costs. Unfortunately, I think it's very hard to "straddle the line".....going forcefully in one direction increases your odds of success that dragging your feet cannot.
Yeah. We're thin at point. I guess you expect Derrick back eventually, and don't want to pay for someone you're going to release, but...It could be rough. Kirk is not so spry to keep up with the speedsters at point, and Marquis is not there yet. That's the razor's edge of thin lines, right there.
I think the Bulls will make heavy use of 10 day contracts. We could see Mike James as the 3rd PG at no cap hit.
I think this is very likely as well. Supposedly Patrick Beverley or E-Tuan Moore are close to signing, although I have no idea what that really means for the PG position.
If the Bulls sign one more guaranteed vet minimum and my numbers are right, they won't be able to sign anybody to a 10-day because it would take them beyond the apron which isn't allowed for a team that used the MLE or BAE (appears Bulls used both). This is why it wouldn't surprise me if the Bulls 13th player is unguaranteed. Going this route would give them more flexibility in case of injury...they could waive the unguaranteed player to sign a player to a 10-day at the position of need.
