BULLS 101

So, good news, better news and bad news.

The good news is that a Bulls free agent target is actually intending to sign with them. The better news is that the signee is not Darko Milicic, but rather Nazr Mohammed, a veteran center formerly a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The bad news is that a Mohammed signing almost certainly means the end of Omer Asik's tenure with the Bulls.

All right, first things first. Mohammed hasn't officially signed yet, but he met with the Brooklyn Nets yesterday, and afterwards informed both them and the Bulls that he preferred to sign with Chicago. Presumably, all that's left is setting the terms of the deal, and I can but assume that will be pretty simple. Mohammed will be signing for the veteran minimum, presumably for either one or two years. Should be pretty simple to nail that down over the next few days.

Mohammed, a 14-year veteran and Chicago native, isn't really the player he once was, but he's not terrible. He's still a solid defender, although not on Asik's level by any stretch, and he's semi-compentent offensively. He's also an above-average rebounder, although, again, not on Asik's level.

KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune has reported that despite some shenanigans (unintentional, as far as I can tell) with the delivery of Asik's offer sheet, the Bulls will have until Tuesday to match his 3 year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Houston Rockets. NBA standard operating procedure is to take the full three days before matching or not matching, but all indications at this point is that they will not be matching. Asik is much better than Mohammed at this point in their respective careers, but Mohammed is much cheaper and that appears to be the more important part of the equation for the Bulls' brass.

Other Notes: Forgot to include in Friday's offseason post that the Bulls expect to bring in free agent guard E'Twaun Moore, formerly of the Boston Celtics, for training camp. Moore was traded to the Houston Rockets in the deal that sent Courtney Lee to Boston and then waived upon his arrival. Also, talks continue with Marco Belinelli on what will likely be a two year deal for the bi-annual exception, but nothing official on that yet.

Tags: Brooklyn Nets, Chicago, Chicago Bulls, Darko Milicic, E'Twaun Moore, Houston Rockets, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed, NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder, Omer Asik

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