Bulls’ trade of Korver to Atlanta becomes official

Bulls sharpshooter Kyle Korver knew he was on his way out of town, but the trade didn’t become official until Monday.

Korver will go to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for cash considerations.

Since the Bulls aren’t taking a salaried player back in return, they get a traded player exception worth $5 million, the amount of Korver’s salary for next season.

Minnesota, rumored to be involved, was not part of the trade.

The Bulls can now take on a player making $5 million or less in a trade. They cannot use a traded player exception to sign a free agent or combine it with any other exception, such as the midlevel.

This move gives the Bulls a chance to add another player this summer, but they also have a year to use the trade exception, so they could wait for an opportunity down the road.

Korver spent two years with the Bulls after signing as a free agent from Utah in 2010. He averaged 8.1 points last season, while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range.

He was a great complement to point guard Derrick Rose, waiting on the perimeter when defenses collapsed.

But with Rose recovering from ACL surgery and the Bulls bumping up against the luxury-tax threshold, they obviously felt his salary could be better spent elsewhere.

The Bulls still have not officially added guard Kirk Hinrich. He’s expected to sign for $6 million over two years using the midlevel exception, but the Bulls may still be looking for creative ways to add him to the roster.

There still is no signed offer sheet for restricted free agent Omer Asik. He’s expected to get a three-year, $25.1 million offer from Houston, but the Rockets reportedly are waiting until Jeremy Lin’s offer sheet is resolved before moving on to Asik.

Recent talk has the Bulls pursuing Memphis shooting guard O.J. Mayo, an unrestricted free agent. Mayo on Monday night tweeted that he will sign with the Dallas Mavericks.

If the Bulls can convince the Grizzlies to do a sign-and-trade, they could conceivably fit him into the trade exception and do a four-year deal worth $21.35 million.

But he’s almost certain to get better offers, so the Bulls would have to make a strong sales pitch on the value of playing next to Rose.