It's an active Friday for Chicago. The Bulls zeroed in on their first in-season signing, as they're set to bring Daequan Cook aboard, and they're taking on the Heat in Miami tonight. A win and a Pacers loss could leave them in a tie for first place in the Central Division, even with Derrick Rose still on the shelf. Amid that sort of optimism, here's the latest out of the Windy City.

• The Rockets shopped Cook in trades before waiving him, but couldn't find anyone willing to take on his $3MM salary, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reveals.
• Mark Deeks of ShamSports took to Twitter to break down the ramifications the Cook signing will have on Chicago's space under the $74.307MM hard cap. The Bulls will have $235,917 available if, as expected, Cook inks for the prorated minimum salary, enough for four 10-day contracts. They could instead add another minimum-salary player for the rest of the year starting March 3. A third option is to acquire a player via trade, and the Bulls can now only take back an additional $1,235,916 in a swap, which Deeks believes they'll try to use in a deal that sends out Richard Hamilton.
• Sam Smith of Bulls.com dips into his mailbag to answer reader questions, and says he isn't expecting much movement for the Bulls between now and the trade deadline, particularly regarding Luol Deng, who is "probably as solidly entrenched with the team" as he's ever been. Smith notes that the Bulls were offered high draft choices for Deng last season, but they didn't pursue them aggressively.
• With Cook, a shooter, on his way to Chicago, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wonders why the team hasn't given outside-shooting big man Vladimir Radmanovic more playing time. Responding to a question about whether Radmanovic or Nazr Mohammed, both on minimum-salary deals, Deeks says it would complicate the already difficult task the Bulls would have in pulling off a trade, given their proximity to the hard cap (Twitter links). 

The Bulls have made a pair of camp cuts so far, waiving both Andre Emmett and Vance Cooksey, but a few more moves are still to come. Even with two roster spots available, Kyrylo Fesenko, Marko Jaric, and Ryan Allen are long shots to make the club, considering the Bulls are only about $758K from their hard cap for the season. Here are the latest links out of Chicago:

• Before Kirk Hinrich signed with the Bulls, former Chicago coach Scott Skiles tried to lure him to the Bucks, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He and I talked at length about it a couple times," Skiles said. "But you know, we weren't dangling a starting job. With Derrick [Rose] out, it's kind of Kirk's show right now. And obviously he lives here (in the Chicago area). There were some things that were against us a little bit. But I do know he struggled over it. When he called and told me what he had decided, I totally understood."
• As Taj Gibson attempts to grow as a player, he's not letting himself be distracted by contract issues, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
• New Bulls additions Marco Belinelli and Vladimir Radmanovic are still adjusting to coach Tom Thibodeau's system, says Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

THURSDAY, 3:25pm: The Bulls formally announced the signing today in a press release.

WEDNESDAY, 10:24pm: The Bulls have signed Vladimir Radmanovic to a one-year deal, the forward confirmed to David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com.  Radmanovic says that the deal will be announced by the club tomorrow.

Radmanovic, 31, averaged 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 49 games for the Hawks in 2011/12.  For his career, the veteran has averaged 8.2 PPG and 3.9 RPG while shooting 38% from beyond the arc.