Dennis Rodman is finally in the fold.
The Bulls and Rodman came to terms on a one-year contract early Friday, with the Bulls improving on their offer of $6 million for the free-agent power forward. Terms of the final agreement have yet to be disclosed but Rodman is believed to have agreed to close to $9 million, which includes incentives for the amount of games Rodman plays.
Rodman missed 12 games last season due to injuries and was suspended another six games for head-butting referee Ted Bernhardt.
Rodman, who won his fifth straight rebounding title in helping the Bulls win their fourth NBA championship in six years last season, had been asking for at least $10 million.
Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause won’t make an official announcement until Monday. Rodman will be in town on Sunday to take a physical and officially ink the deal.
“Dennis is ecstatic to be coming back to Chicago because that’s what he wanted all along,” said Rodman’s agent, Dwight Manley. “He was pleased that the Bulls showed their desire to keep him by meeting us on some sort of common ground.”
The Bulls now have signed three of the principle participants in last season’s title run, inking coach Phil Jackson to a one-year deal worth a reported $2.7 million in June and signing Michael Jordan to a one-year deal worth close to $30 million last month.
With Rodman’s negotiations dragging on for two weeks, it began to look as if the Bulls wouldn’t re-sign him. The problem was money, with Rodman seeking a dollar amount comparable to the money other free agents were getting. Shaquille O’Neal signed a seven-year pact with the Los Angeles Lakers worth a reported $120 million while the Miami Heat re-signed center Alonzo Mourning for a reported $112 million. The Heat also signed free-agent Juwan Howard to a seven-year contract worth $98 million but that deal has since been negated by the league.
Rodman felt he was at least worth as much as former Bull Horace Grant, whom the Orlando Magic has given $50 million for the next five years. But the Bulls weren’t prepared to pay that kind of money.
