Omer Asik

[ianboyextreme]

We gotta go after Omer Asik this offseason. Watching him tonight against the heat, he was beastin on the offensive boards when he was in and he can defend guys like bynum and dwight. Hes a restricted FA at seasons end and i would be totally fine with offering him 7-9 mil a year.

[LooseCannon]

Asik is a second year player, so he should be covered by the Gilbert Arenas provision and can't be offered a starting salary of more than the average salary.  As a second-year, early Bird free agent, the Bulls could match an offer sheet (and I doubt the Bulls will let Asik be unrestricted by not giving him a qualifying offe) without having to use the MLE.

So, it basically sounds like Asik will be a Bull next season unless Chicago thinks he is not worth $5m/year or really, really wants to avoid the luxury tax even if it makes the team less of a contender.