Updated: July 24, 2012, 1:16 PM ET
ESPNChicago.comThe Chicago Bulls will not match the Houston Rockets' three-year, $25.1 million offer to Omer Asik, the team announced via its website Tuesday morning.
"It was a difficult decision because Omer did a nice job for us," Bulls general manager Gar Forman told the team's website Tuesday. "Matching the offer for Omer could have put us in a difficult position going forward in trying to acquire high-level talent. We wish Omer good luck and continued success."
The deal that the Rockets structured would have meant the Bulls would have been on the hook for a cap hit of almost $15 million in the final year of the contract. The Bulls decided they did not want to absorb such a substantial penalty given their current cap situation.
Asik averaged 3.1 points and 5.3 rebounds coming off the Bulls' bench.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are finalizing deals for Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The 6-foot-5 Belinelli, who is a former first-round pick (18th overall) by Golden State, averaged 11.8 points last season with the New Orleans Hornets. He is expected to sign for the bi-annual exception, which is just under $2 million.
By using the bi-annual exception, the Bulls' hard cap themselves at $74 million for the season. As ESPN salary cap expert Larry Coon has stated, the hard cap may preclude the Bulls from making any major in-season acquisitions. They will have to add minimum salaried players to fill out the roster.
Mohammed is expected to sign for the veteran's minimum, which is $1.3 million.
The Bulls also officially announced the signing of Kirk Hinrich, who will appear at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The Bulls signed veteran Vladimir Radmanovic earlier this week and will look to fill out the rest of the roster with minimum salaried players because of their reluctance to go deep into the luxury tax.
ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell contributed to this story.
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