If a team claims Erik Murphy off waivers, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has suggested is likely, the Bulls will catch a break. Murphy’s salary would come off Chicago’s books and help the team avert paying the luxury tax in case Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson earn bonuses that they were considered unlikely to achieve before the season but seem to have a shot at attaining now. Here’s more on a Bulls roster in flux:
- A source tells Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald that there’s a decent chance the Bulls will sign multiple players to replace Murphy. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune backs that up, tweeting that it’s not necessarily an either-or proposition between Ronnie Brewer and Mike James and that the Bulls are open to possibly signing two guys. That makes sense, considering that inking two or three veterans to prorated contracts for the minimum salary at this point in the season would be cheaper than even Murphy’s $490,180 rookie minimum salary.
- The Bulls will probably wait a few days before bringing anyone aboard, McGraw writes, which suggests the team is waiting to see whether Murphy is claimed. If he becomes a free agent, his salary will remain on Chicago’s ledger, and I think it would make the team less likely to sign multiple players, though that’s just my speculation.
- Gibson supports the idea of signing Brewer, as Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune notes via Twitter. “He’s athletic, a leader and he’s been through a lot with us,” Gibson said of his teammate from 2010/11 and 2011/12.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com looks ahead to the playoffs and Chicago’s possible offseason moves in his latest mailbag column.