Report: Bulls, Cavaliers frontrunners to land Perkins after buyout from Jazz

Erstwhile Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins is expected to secure a buyout from the Utah Jazz, who acquired him as part of a three-team trade on Thursday. 

Once that buyout is completed, two teams - the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls - are considered clear frontrunners to sign him, according to NBA.com's David Aldridge.

Perkins is a glacially-slow lumberer in serious decline, has no offensive game to speak of, and hasn't hit double-digits in PER in five years. But he's also a very large man who remains a capable post defender, and the Thunder have been 3.1 points per 100 possessions better on defense with him on the floor this season.

The Cavaliers would seem to have a greater need than the Bulls. Anderson Varejao is done for the year, and despite the recent addition of center Timofey Mozgov, the Cavaliers are allowing opponents to shoot 61.1 percent near the rim, the fourth-worst mark in the league. 

The Bulls have a wealth of size and, in Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, two of the game's very best interior defenders. But Noah hasn't been fully healthy all season, and the Bulls probably wouldn't mind having some insurance in the frontcourt.