Bulls waive Tornike Shengelia, sign Greg Smith

Toko Time has come to an end, as the Bulls announced Monday that they have requested waivers on the seldom-used Tornike Shengelia. Shengelia was acquired from the Nets in the Marquis Teague trade, but he barely played.

The Bulls didn't waste any time replacing Shengelia on the roster, signing the injured Greg Smith. Smith was recently waived by the Rockets and hasn't played since January due to a knee injury. Even if he was healthy, he wouldn't be eligible for the postseason because he was waived after the March 1 deadline. Then again, if he was healthy, he probably wouldn't have been waived in the first place.

But while Smith won't make any type of impact this season, this move was made with an eye toward next season. RealGM's Shams Charania reports the deal is fully guaranteed for next year, and perhaps Smith will be in the mix as Joakim Noah's backup. Smith is just 23 years old, and he was pretty productive when healthy in 2012-13. The 6'10 big man averaged 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 70 games last season. Mark Deeks wrote some glowing words about Smith over at The Score the other day, so that's a positive.

The move will cut into the Bulls' cap space a bit, although it's not a huge amount. The 2014-15 minimum salary for a three-year veteran will be $948,163 and the incomplete roster charge (rookie minimum) will be $507,336, which means $440,827 in lost cap room.

The Bulls have now signed two bigs in Smith and Amundson over the past week, but apparently they tried to make a move on another guy:

Bulls, I'm told, made determined attempt to convince vet PF Kurt Thomas to unretire before signing Lou Amundson and Greg Smith this month

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 14, 2014

Stein went on to say Thomas "resisted the Bulls' overtures," probably because he's 41 years old and can barely move anymore. Big Sexy would have been a solid presence in the locker room, but that's about it. I'm not really bummed about him not coming back.