Chicago Bulls close to a deal with veteran centre Nazr Mohammed – NBA News
The Chicago Bulls seem to be on their way to parting ways with backup centre Omer Asik. The New York Post has reported that the Bulls are close to signing veteran centre Nazr Mohammed to their line-up, which will mean that they
are not going to re-sign the fourth year Turkish centre.
Asik has been offered a three year $25.1 million contract by the Houston Rockets. The Bulls have the right to match that offer as Asik is a restricted free agent. However, even though the Bulls haven’t yet seen the offer sheet
of the Rockets, it seems that they are moving on and the signing of Mohammed will be a step in that direction.
Mohammed played last season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and is expected to be signed for the veteran’s minimum contract.
If the Bulls decide to match the offer of the Rockets for Asik, it will put them in luxury tax threshold as far as salaries are concerned, and the Bulls have proven this offseason that they do not want to be paying luxury tax.
The Brooklyn Nets were the other team interested in Mohammed but the New York Times report that he has decided to join the Bulls and has already conveyed his decision to both teams.
Nazr is a 14 year veteran to the league, who has played for 7 different teams over the course of his well travelled career. He averaged 7.1 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Charlotte Bobcats and Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2010-2011
season, but his numbers dropped last season to 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds, when he played as a backup for the Thunder.
If Asik is let go by the Bulls, he will be the latest of a long list of Bulls players with whom the team has parted ways this offseason. The Bulls traded Kyle Korver to the Atlanta Hawks, decided not to pick up a $3.2 million option
for C.J Watson, and have told Ronnie Brewer that his current salary of over $4 million will not be matched by them for the next season.
Furthermore, reserve guard John Lucas III is said to be close to signing a deal with the Toronto Raptors. This leaves Taj Gibson as the only bench player of the Bulls squad returning for next season.
The Bulls boasted one of the strongest and deepest benches in the NBA for the past two seasons, allowing them to finish with the best record in the league both seasons. However, they seem to be taking a different route for the
coming season, with star point guard Derrick Rose out for 8 to 10 months with an ACL injury. The Bulls recently signed Vladimir Radmanovic and Kirk Hinrich instead, and will be looking to further strengthen the roster in the coming days. They are also said
to be involved in contract extension negotiations with Gibson.
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