Ever since Nikola Mirotic suffered a concussion and maxillary fractures in his face as a result of taking a punch from teammate Bobby Portis in practice, it has become clear that the Bulls must trade Mirotic. Let’s take a look at some of Chicago’s options for Mirotic’s trade destinations.
When the Chicago Bulls front office scrolled through their roster coming into the 2017-18 season, there is no possible way they could’ve foreseen such a clash between teammates occurring the way it did in practice two days before the team’s season opener. The story caused a stir among media outlets, as everyone is still trying to figure out the cause of Portis’ actions.
Nikola Mirotic was originally selected in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets at the age of 20. Instead of pursuing an NBA career, Mirotic chose to continue playing in his home country of Spain for his childhood club Real Madrid. On draft night, the rights to Mirotic were traded to Minnesota before another trade sent his rights to Chicago later that evening.
In the summer of 2014, Mirotic signed a multi-year deal with Chicago, making the step from European basketball to the NBA. He played in all 82 games in his first season en route to first-team All-Rookie honors. Due to the recent events that led up to Mirotic’s injury, it looks like the forward may finish his Bulls career averaging 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in his three seasons.
The 6’10” Spaniard gave the Bulls an outside threat that was also not shy about crashing the boards. It is expected that the Bulls will try to move Mirotic, but won’t be able to until after Dec. 15, when recently signed free agents become eligible to be traded.
Even after the deadline passes for Mirotic to be traded, he still has one-year Bird rights, meaning that he must give consent to the Bulls for whatever team they are able to strike a deal with for the player. Let’s take a look at some possible landing spots where Mirotic would likely enjoy playing.