The Bulls officially signed Nate Robinson.

Last season with the Warriors, Robinson appeared in 51 games (nine starts) and averaged 11.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.0 rpg, and 1.16 spg in 23.4 mpg. 

The Bulls are close to signing Nate Robinson to a one-year, veteran's minimum deal.

Robinson averaged 11.2 points on 42.4 percent shooting, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 23.5 minutes for the Warriors last season.

Joakim Noah likes the Bulls’ chances despite the expected loss of Derrick Rose for most of next season.

"I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, but I know he's working really hard at getting back as soon as possible," Noah said. "Obviously, it was a tough break for us, but we're going to bounce back.

"Right now, people are sleeping on us, and we're all right with that. We know at the end of the day, come playoff time, we'll be ready to go."

The Bulls lost two of their top defenders, Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik, to free agency.

"I'm just focused right now on what I can do to help the team," Noah said when asked if he's concerned the Bulls didn't improve. "Obviously, we've lost some pieces. We've added some pieces. It's exciting.

"We've gone through a little bit of adversity, but I think we're a team full of fighters. That's what I love about Chicago, about the Bulls."

There are seven NBA teams that have never had a luxury tax payment since it came into existence with the 1999 collective bargaining agreement.

The Bulls, Warriors, Clippers, Wizards, Bobcats, Hornets and Sonics/Thunder have always been on the receiving end of tax distributions.

While the Clippers, Wizards and Hornets have taken on salary during the 2012 offseason and the Thunder face tax issues if James Harden and Serge Ibaka are signed to new deals, the Bulls and Warriors continue to be tax conscious in their decision-making.

Golden State has just one playoff appearance over that stretch. 

Ronnie Brewer turned down a “generous offer” from the Timberwolves in favor of a one-year deal with the Knicks.

"Minnesota was very interested in Ronnie and was very aggressive about it," Brewer's agent, Henry Thomas, said. "For the things that were important to him, he felt that the better move was to go to New York. Ronnie was more comfortable with the opportunity there."

Thomas declined to disclose the terms of the contract offered by Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn.

Daryl Morey is banking on the limited displays of potential Omer Asik flashed as a reserve with the Bulls.

"They've been the best defensive team in the league the past couple of years," Morey said of the Bulls. "They've been at their best defensively with Omer in the middle, better than with their other bigs on the team. Obviously he's going against non-starter players often. That said, when he played against starters he played great, and in those limited minutes, even when you adjust for maybe some of the backups he was going against, he was still elite, elite."

Houston landed Asik after the Bulls chose not to match Morey’s offer sheet for the restricted free agent.

"We think that's where you can find opportunity in this league," Morey said. "In free agency it's very hard to find players to add and that have a fit in the overall structure of what we're trying to do to get back to being a championship contender. One way to do it is to find a guy who hasn't played much who we really believe in, and then add him to our team.

"Anytime you can get a defensive presence like him - 7-footer; long; probably the best paint-rim protector short of one or two players in the league the last couple of years; superior rebounder - that's always a good thing to add no matter what your roster looks like.

"We think he's a 10-plus a night rebound guy (and) one of the best defensive bigs in the league. Obviously not many people have seen him play because he did have a limited role there, and time will tell if our scouting that we believe in is right. But we believe in Omer and he believes in himself."

The following 36 NBA players are currently under contract for the 12-13 season and are on their respective country's Olympic rosters:

Atlanta Hawks - no players

Boston Celtics - no players

Brooklyn Nets - Deron Williams (USA)

Charlotte Bobcats - no players

Chicago Bulls - Luol Deng (Great Britain)

Cleveland Cavaliers - Anderson Varejao (Brazil)

Dallas Mavericks - no players

Denver Nuggets - Timofey Mozgov (Russia)

Detroit Pistons - no players

Golden State Warriors - no players

Houston Rockets - no players

Indiana Pacers - no players

Los Angeles Clippers - Chris Paul (USA)

Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe Bryant (USA), Pau Gasol (Spain)

Memphis Grizzlies - Marc Gasol (Spain) 

Miami Heat - LeBron James (USA)

Milwaukee Bucks - no players

Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Love (USA), Alexey Shved (Russia)

New Orleans Hornets - Anthony Davis (USA), Al-Farouq Aminu (Nigeria)

New York Knicks - Carmelo Anthony (USA), Tyson Chandler (USA), Pablo Prigioni (Argentina)

Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant (USA), Russell Westbrook (USA), James Harden (USA), Serge Ibaka (Spain)

Orlando Magic - no players

Philadelphia 76ers - Andre Iguodala (USA)

Phoenix Suns - Luis Scola (Argentina)

Portland Trail Blazers - Nicolas Batum (France), Victor Claver (Spain), Joel Freeland (Great Britain)

Sacramento Kings - no players

San Antonio Spurs - Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Boris Diaw (France), Tiago Splitter (Brazil), Patty Mills (Australia), Nando De Colo (France)

Toronto Raptors - Jose Calderon (Spain), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Linas Klezia (Lithuania)

Utah Jazz - no players

Washington Wizards - Nene (Brazil), Kevin Seraphin (France)

• Click here to view the full Olympic rosters.

The Bulls will officially decline to match Omer Asik's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Rockets, according to a report.

Asik’s departure will clear the way for Chicago to sign Kirk Hinrich, who is expected to start at point guard while Derrick Rose recovers from knee surgery.

Both Marco Belinelli and Nazr Mohammed are expected to sign short-term deals with the Bulls this week.

Efes Istanbul head coach Ilias Zouros has been invited to spend time with the Spurs and Bulls during their upcoming training camps.

Zouros has maintained a good relationship with the San Antonio staff over the past two years.

The Bulls are anticipating Derrick Rose to be out until March.

Chicago's front office has made a series of cost-cutting moves as they anticipate the 12-13 season as one where they stand pat as Rose heals.