Chicago Bulls let Omer Asik walk away; Sign Kirk Hinrich – NBA News
The Chicago Bulls officially passed on the option of retaining reserve centre Omer Asik by not matching the offer placed by the Houston Rockets.
Asik was a reserve centre for the Bulls last season and one of the key members of the Bulls bench, one of the deepest in the NBA at that time. However, Asik, a restricted free agent, was given a three year $25.1 million offer by
the Rockets. The Bulls, as expected, decided not to match the offer.
“It was a difficult decision because Omer did a nice job for us. Matching the offer for Omer could have put us in a difficult position going forward in trying to acquire high-level talent. We wish Omer good luck and continued success,”
said Bulls General Manager Gar Forman in a statement issued on the team website.
Had the Bulls picked up the offer on Asik, it would have meant that the Bulls would be taking a cap hit of $15 million in the final year of the contract, and they did not want to absorb such a big penalty. Asik averaged 3.1 points
and 5.3 rebounds for the Bulls in limited minutes, and provided great back up for Joakim Noah.
On the other hand, the Bulls officially introduced point guard Kirk Hinrich in a press conference on Tuesday, marking his return to the city of Chicago. Hinrich was traded by Chicago in 2010, but is being brought back for next
season as a backup point guard. He is however expected to perform the starting duties till the time Derrick Rose returns from injury.
The Bulls also finalized a deal for former New Orleans Hornets guard Marco Belinelli. The 6 foot 5 inch guard averaged 11.8 points last season for the Hornets, and will give the defensive minded Bulls a scoring option off the bench.
Chicago are also interested in veteran centre Nazr Mohammed, who played for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. Mohammed was at the Berto Centre on Tuesday taking a physical examination, and is expected to be signed for the veteran’s minimum of $1.3 million
by the Bulls.
After a rather slow and start to free agency in which the Bulls lost key players such as Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and now Omer Asik, they have made some good acquisitions to keep them in the mix of the Eastern Conference and at
the same time, not take a cap hit. The Bulls signed veteran Vladimir Radmanovic earlier this week as well.
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