Chicago Bulls: Nikola Mirotic Emerging As Team’s Next Star
From one perspective, Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic exceeded expectations (for the most part) during his rookie season. Not only did he average a respectable 10.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest, he was also one of the few players on the team who appeared in all 82 games.
Furthermore, during the month of March, Mirotic averaged 20.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and led the league in fourth quarter scoring during that stretch. And while Andrew Wiggins was named Rookie of the Year, it is quite conceivable that Mirotic could have made it a closer race had he gotten more playing time.
On the flip side of the coin, however, Mirotic struggled with his shooting the rest of the way. A month later, he shot just 35 percent overall and 34 percent from beyond the arc. During Chicago’s postseason run, he averaged 5.7 points per game while shooting just 30 percent from the floor, including a woeful 23 percent from three-point range.
While the 2014-15 campaign did not end the way he would have liked, Mirotic is quickly showing that he is a different player in year two. And thanks to a new head coach in Fred Hoiberg, who has implemented a new offense and inserted the second-year player into the starting lineup, Mirotic is flourishing to say the least.
Through the first four games of the 2015-16 campaign, Mirotic is averaging 18.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per outing. To put this early season output in perspective, his scoring average has nearly doubled from what we saw a year ago.
Along with that, Mirotic is shooting the basketball at a higher clip as well. During the 2014-15 campaign, he converted close to 41 percent of his shot attempts, including a 31 percent effort from three-point range. But during the first week of the current season, he is shooting 47 percent from the field and an impressive 46 percent from beyond the arc.
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But while these numbers are a noticeable improvement, the story does not end there. To further illustrate his value to the team, let’s take a look how well the Bulls operate with him on the floor compared to the alternative.
When Mirotic is on the court, the Bulls are averaging 106.1 points per 100 possessions. And when he is on the bench, that number plummets to a pedestrian 82.3 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.
Although I was concerned about how the Bulls would fare from a defensive standpoint with Mirotic in the starting lineup, the team has performed well in this area as well. In fact, Chicago is ranked fifth in defensive rating (91.0) and sixth in defensive field goal percentage, per NBA.com.
Next: NBA Power Rankings: Opening Week
Mirotic provides Chicago with a different dimension when he is in the lineup. Of course, four games is not a large enough sample size to determine if he is capable of sustaining this level of play for the rest of the season.
However, being that Mirotic has proven time and again that he can produce when given extended minutes; he will more than likely continue to improve as a starter. And while his average may not be at 18 points per outing by the end of the season, Mirotic is becoming a player that opposing teams have to account for. Because when he gets hot, he is as difficult to guard as any player in the league at his position.