League sources confirmed the Bulls reached agreement on a two-year contract with Joe Smith late Friday, the veteran forward who had been their No. 1 target in free agency, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

Financial terms weren't available, but the Bulls had the midlevel salary-cap exception of $5.36 million at their disposal.

As recently as Thursday, general manager John Paxson had expressed pessimism the Bulls would land any of the veteran big men they had been targeting. Those included the Nets' Mikki Moore and the Lakers' Chris Mihm.

Smith is slotted to take the place of P.J. Brown to start alongside Ben Wallace and Luol Deng in a frontcourt that suddenly is loaded with reserves Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

Smith averaged 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in 65 games with the Nuggets and 76ers last season. 76ers general manager Billy King had called re-signing Smith an off-season priority.

But the Bulls wooed Smith with a possible starting role and a serious approach that stressed the opportunity to play a prominent role in a winnable Eastern Conference next season. A face-to-face meeting at the Berto Center with Paxson and coach Scott Skiles that took place earlier this month was said to have made a strong impression.