Chicago Bulls: Looking at 5 potential offseason moves

Omer Asik is costing the Bulls a lot of money to sit on the bench.

The Bulls are on the hook for over $11 million for center Omer Asik in 2018-2019. Out of all the players on the books for next season, Asik is the second-most expensive. That’s a lot of money for a guy who isn’t going to play much.

Asik may have been an asset in the past for the Bulls, but his prime days are over. Asik was once a defensive force in the paint, back when Chicago had its string of playoff appearances during the glory days of Derrick Rose and Tom Thibodeau.

Since then, his play has dropped off a bit. Most recently, he has battled a line of injuries as well as a serious illness that was diagnosed as Crohn’s disease in the end. Due to the illness, Asik lost a significant amount of weight earlier this season while with the New Orleans Pelicans.

As much as I like the guy, the Bulls need to do what they can to try and trade his contract. It expires after this upcoming season, so they could wind up dishing him to a team that has its eye on next year’s free agency class.

If the Bulls end up being one of those teams, I suppose I can understand that. They might know something we don’t, and want to go into the summer of 2019 with ample cap room. If that’s not the case, though, Asik should be dealt if possible.