NBA removes Asik’s contract from Bulls' salary cap

The NBA has removed Turkey's Omer Asik's contract from the Chicago Bulls' salary cap due to his career-ending injury, according to NBA insider Shams Charania.

"The NBA has removed Omer Asik's deal from the Chicago Bulls' salary books via career-ending injury/illness, freeing up an additional $3M in space, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Chicago now has upwards of $23M in salary space for free agency,'' said Charania in a Twitter post.

The 32-year-old center returned to Chicago Bulls on Feb. 1, 2018 but he only played 18 matches with Bulls.

The club has waived Omer Asik after he suffered from inflammatory arthritis last September.

Bulls paid Asik's full $11 million contract for last season even though his return to courts had yet to be determined.

He played with 5.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in 471 NBA games.