O.J. Mayo is off the board

The Bulls reportedly had shown some interest in unrestricted free agent shooting guard O.J. Mayo.

No matter. Mayo is off the board.

Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas writes:

The Dallas Mavericks and shooting guard O.J. Mayo have agreed to a multiyear deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Mayo, 24, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 15.2 points a game. He is set to join a radically revamped Mavs roster around Dirk Nowitzki that includes center Chris Kaman, forward Elton Brand, shooting guard Dahntay Jones and point guard Darren Collison, all added in the last five days.

The third overall pick in the 2008 draft broke the news on his Twitter account, saying, “I will be signing with dallas! #Mavsnation.”

The exact terms of Mayo’s deal were not known, but it is a two-year deal with a player option in the second year. The Mavs had about $4 million in cap space remaining.

If those numbers are correct, the Bulls probably could have made a strong push for Mayo using the $5 million trade exception they picked up in the Kyle Korver trade (assuming the Grizzlies would have consented to a sign-and-trade).

Of course, Chicago’s front office is in cost-cutting/money-saving mode right now, and they were unlikely to shell out any money for Mayo, especially with Rip Hamilton still on the books and Houston’s $25.1 million offer sheet for Omer Asik still pending.

Just another sign, if anybody needed one, that the Bulls aren’t looking to improve the team this offseason.

17 Responses to O.J. Mayo is off the board

  1. imissjay2010@yahoo.com'
    Bearnutt054 July 17, 2012 at 11:23 am #

    Just beautiful. Who needs scoring at the 2G spot. We apparently don’t.

    Quite simply, we shouldn’t overpay on Asik. Bulls brass should set a threshold on a max amount they will match for Asik.

    Then, with the extra dollars of very limited cash, should have made a serious pursuit of Mayo.

    But, I’m not a GM.

  2. starr365 July 17, 2012 at 12:13 pm #

    Courtney Lee is still out there. It looks like Bulls brass are intent on standing pat and surrounding Derrick Rose with a cast of mediocrity. Taj Gibson helped make Asik and the 2nd unit look good. Move Taj to starter, bring Rip and Boozer off of the bench. And if they really want to save money, let Asik go and find another 7 ft. stiff. There are a few of them out there. Not big on Micheal Redd, he will be a defensive liability, but I think he can still hit a 3.

  3. jhsmith@kierlandmortgage.com'
    John Smith July 17, 2012 at 12:35 pm #

    I can’t believe a team which resides in one of the largest city/TV market in the country, while making tons of money off the fans for 10 out of 14 years with lousy teams, and now have an opportunity to reward its fans loyality for the down years, are more concern about a pending offer for a No Offense Center. Not getting a young SG who can solidify our line-up for years to come is unbelievable. The lack of creativity by management to construct deals to make the team better is heart wretching. This franchise is run as it’s located in Sacremento or Charlotte. Unbelievable!!! It’s nice to know the management team is more concern about the luxury tax and could care less about putting the pieces together for a championship run. We have one A+ player (injured) and a bunch of B/C players. It has been proven you can’t win with (1) star and role players. Bulls mgmt. missed an opportunity to improve the team and struck out. It nice to know the Bulls look at themselves as a small market team. It will definitely be a long season. P.S. Courtney Lee is not the answer!!!

  4. mali75chevy@yahoo.com'
    Kyle July 17, 2012 at 1:42 pm #

    I think the Bulls are figuring out a trade that will land them some young athletic players. I think it’s possible that Deng, Boozer, and maybe another player will be dealt this summer. I love the idea of starting Noah at powerforward and Asik at center. Miami would have a hard time scoring inside on those two defensive freaks.

  5. mestjian@hotmail.com'
    Bob July 17, 2012 at 3:18 pm #

    Actually, Noah and Asik would get destroyed by Lebron and Bosh. Both would be forced to guard smaller/quicker players on the perimeter.

  6. Anonymous July 17, 2012 at 3:45 pm #

    Bulls brass has reached out to most of the top FA’s. Whiff on Mayo? Whiff on Howard? Whiff on evrry FA? What’s tour point guy? You can do better.

  7. Dan@mike.com'
    Mike July 17, 2012 at 5:56 pm #

    Well yeah next year is a lost year, lets look long term when Rose is healthy, Mircotic is coming over and we could get a good SG in the draft.

  8. Brett July 17, 2012 at 7:55 pm #

    We “could” get a good shooting guard in the draft. Or we could’ve just got one on the cheap that averaged 18 ppg his rookie year as a starter. Oh yeah, and he’s only 24. What happened to making “basketball decisions” -not financial ones.

  9. daniel July 17, 2012 at 9:37 pm #

    Courtney Lee will not cut it. There goes Chicago’s last hope for shooting guard.

  10. truebullzfan July 17, 2012 at 9:39 pm #

    I don’t see y everyone is pissed off by da bullz front office. We don’t need no sg. We got one n his name is Jimmy butler. Now before u guys run ur mouth. Look at his rookie season with little playing time. His average was da same as rose when he came off da bench… Look at it. I kno Asik contract is too much but look at it this way…. Ain’t no big man out there we can afford. Asik is a great defender n a center doesn’t have to score but just make shots. Here’s da bulls starting lineup. Kirk(just til rose is back) Jimmy sg deng sf Noah pf n Asik c. Bench Kirk (when rose is back). Teague Taj boozer n rip plus late additions that da bullz make. Now look at da roster. It’s not bad n they can do da job until rose is back.

  11. truebullzfan July 17, 2012 at 9:45 pm #

    I mean Block shots.

  12. xtazydagodzon@gmail.com'
    trade everyone except rose July 17, 2012 at 10:35 pm #

    Bulls gm: hey mayo want to sign a 4 year 1 million dollar deal youll be able to play with teague and hinrich

    Mayo: hold on let me do a tweet real quick

  13. truebullzfan July 17, 2012 at 10:52 pm #

    Bullshit. Da bulls offered him mis level exception but he didn’t wanna take it. That’s all da bulls could afford. Do u think mayo wanna play for bulls who has d.rose making damn near 100mil n off court 300 mil when they both played together years ago. Ummmmm no. Now if boozer wasn’t under contract for that money. Bulls would have dumped Shit loads of money on him. His loss.

  14. Derrick Rose July 18, 2012 at 10:56 am #

    Who cares! Let’s focus on the development of Teague and Butler this year. Next years free agent is what we should be focused on. Curry, Ellis, Harden,Evans,Martin and Derozan. Also, Millsap and Smith are available at the Forward position.

  15. Damian7scipio7@gmail.com'
    Damian S July 18, 2012 at 11:16 am #

    @John Smith- Dirk Won it W Role Players Last Year. So… Yeah

  16. starr365 July 18, 2012 at 2:49 pm #

    I’m not saying Courtney Lee is the answer, I’m saying he’s the last decent 2-guard on the market.

  17. oliveroesterreicher@gmx.de'
    tifosi ultra July 20, 2012 at 3:42 pm #

    wheres our 2g opportunity???? all gone… for that price we should have mayo… damn

Leave a Reply

Designed by Anthony Bain