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Free-agent options limited for Bulls

With little money to spend, the Bulls aren’t setting the market in NBA free agency this summer.

So they’re forced to wait while the list of available players changes daily.

Late Thursday, former Portland shooting guard Brandon Roy agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota, according to reports. Then early Friday, Clippers shooting guard Nick Young settled on a one-year, $6 million contract with Philadelphia.

The Bulls were said to be one of five finalists for Roy, who retired because of knee problems a year ago but feels ready to attempt a comeback. They had little chance of competing monetarily with the Timberwolves’ offer.

The Bulls have only the $3 million taxpayer midlevel exception to offer free agents and can also sign players to the league minimum.

Even if Roy had agreed to join the Bulls for $3 million, it would have been a gamble, because if his knees didn’t hold up, they wouldn’t have much left to add other players.

The situation is fluid in both directions, though. Another guard joined the list of possibilities when Toronto rescinded its qualifying offer to Jerryd Bayless, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Bayless averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 assists for the Raptors last season but missed more than half of it because of injuries.

The Bulls are chasing a variety of players, but their dream scenario figures to be signing Houston shooting guard Courtney Lee for $3 million and somehow convincing Kirk Hinrich to play for the minimum salary of $1.2 million for a nine-year veteran.

Other free agents who have been linked to the Bulls are Phoenix shooting guard Michael Redd, Clippers shooting guard Randy Foye, Oklahoma City point guard Derek Fisher and Brooklyn forward Gerald Green.

There probably are a dozen others who have heard from the Bulls.

One reason the Bulls are forced to wait is several teams still have significant cap space to spend, including Dallas, Indiana, Portland, Phoenix, Houston, Cleveland, Toronto and Charlotte.

Most agents want their clients to wait for that money to be spent before moving on to the teams that offer smaller paydays.

The Bulls are among the few who can sell a winning situation, at least when Derrick Rose returns from knee surgery sometime next season.

A couple of new names became available to claim the free-agent dollars.

After signing Young, the 76ers made it clear they won’t re-sign guard Lou Williams. Philadelphia also is expected to use the amnesty clause on ex-Bulls forward Elton Brand.

The Bulls won’t be in the running for either of those players, but they might help move along the process by signing elsewhere.

NBA teams can officially sign free agents starting Wednesday. That’s when the Bulls figure to see the offer sheet Houston has planned for center Omer Asik.

In the meantime, the Bulls must decide before Wednesday whether to pick up contract options on Kyle Korver, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer.

Because the Bulls are so close to the luxury-tax threshold, it seems likely none of those three will return next season.

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com

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