Darko Milicic receives interest from Chicago Bulls – NBA News
The Chicago Bulls have finally expressed interest in a player during free agency this year, and the player to earn the honour is former Minnesota Timberwolves 7 foot centre Darko Milicic.
Marc Cornstein, agent for Milicic, has said that the Bulls have expressed their desire to sign Milicic to the team.
Milicic was amnestied by the Wolves last week in an attempt to make cap space for restricted free agent Nicolas Batum. The Wolves submitted a four year $45 million offer sheet for Batum on Sunday but the offer was matched by the
Portland Trail Blazers.
He was traded by the New York Knicks to the Wolves back in the 2009-2010 season and has been playing with them for the past two and a half seasons. Milicic averaged 4.6 points and 3.3 rebounds last season, while managing 16.3
minutes per game.
The news comes days before the Houston Rockets are to submit an offer sheet to Bulls restricted free agent centre Omer Asik, for a reported three year deal somewhere in excess of $20 million. The Bulls reserve the right to match
the offer but are expected not to, since they already have huge contract commitments with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. Once Houston submits the offer sheet, the Bulls will have three days to match the offer if they want to retain
Asik.
If the Bulls are thinking of letting Asik go, then Milicic would be a good addition to the roster to take his spot. He is tall, strong and has good rebounding abilities. The Bulls have not made any official statement yet regarding
what they plan to do once Houston submits their offer for Asik, saying that they would like to see the offer sheet before making any decision.
Milicic was the 2nd overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, picked up by the Detroit Pistons. He averages 6 points and 4.2 rebounds over a 9 year career in the NBA that has seen him play for five teams. Apart from Kirk Hinrich,
Milicic is the first player to have received interest from the Bulls this offseason. They have let go Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Watson, and are likely to part ways with John Lucas III.
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