The new hot topic among Bulls fans is O.J. Mayo. The Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard is an unrestricted free agent and the Bulls have interest. The big question is what they have to offer.
The main competition appears to be Phoenix, which has about $8-9 million of salary cap room after New Orleans matched the Suns’ offer sheet to Eric Gordon.
Complete details of the Kirk Hinrich acquisition and Kyle Korver trade to Atlanta have yet to be revealed, but those transactions should help the Bulls in the Mayo chase.
If the Bulls get a second-round draft pick out of the Korver trade, they’ll have a traded-player exception worth $5 million. To use that on Mayo, they’d have to talk the Grizzlies into doing a sign-and-trade and send some sort of draft pick and/or cash in return.
If that happens, Memphis could sign Mayo to a five-year deal worth a total of $28.75 million and send him to the Bulls.
Another possibility is using the full mid-level exception of $5 million. The most the Bulls could get out of that is a four-year offer to Mayo worth $21.35 million.
To use that option, the Bulls would have to decline to match Omer Asik’s offer sheet from Houston. Otherwise, they’d be limited to the taxpayer mid-level of $3 million.
They’d also have to find another way to land Hinrich, either through a sign-and-trade with Atlanta or possibly even the bi-annual exception worth $1.9 million, which they could use if Asik walks.
There’s also a chance the Bulls could negotiate an Asik trade before he signs the offer sheet, maybe something involving the Rockets and Grizzlies. That would be a challenge to work out, but it could be done.
Is getting Mayo more than a dream for Bulls? | DailyHerald.com Blogs