Chicago Bulls: Welcome back to the rotation, Nikola Mirotic

Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic has played well since returning to the lineup.

The Chicago Bulls‘ 2017-18 season could not have gotten off to a more disappointing start. First of all, there was the altercation between Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis that resulted in the two players missing a combined 31 games.

On top of that, the Bulls lost four of their first five games and have endured three separate losing streaks of three, five and 10 games, respectively, which dropped them to a horrific 3-20 record through the first 23 games.

Since that time, though, the Bulls have put together an unlikely four-game winning streak to improve to 7-20 — good enough for the second-worst record in the league. While there are several factors that can be attributed to the Bulls’ recent success, the one that stands out the most is the return of Mirotic.

When he returned to the lineup a week ago, Mirotic had a relatively quiet game against the Charlotte Hornets. In that contest, he scored six points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field while finishing with a plus/minus of +9.

Based on that performance, it would have been reasonable to presume that it was going to be the same old story with Mirotic. However, over the last three games, Mirotic has proven to be more than an adequate difference-maker for the new-look Bulls.

In his next outing against the New York Knicks, Mirotic poured in 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting overall and he converted five of his eight attempts from 3-point range.

Two nights later, the Bulls were going against the top team in the Eastern Conference — the Boston Celtics. There’s no way Mirotic would have a great outing against a team who had won 23 of its first 28 games, right?

Not so fast.

With rookie forward Lauri Markkanen sidelined with back spasms, Mirotic was inserted into the starting lineup and he played very well, to say the least. When it was all said and done, the fourth-year forward finished the evening with a game-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds. It should also be noted that Mirotic’s plus/minus rating of +13 was the second-highest of any player in the starting lineup.

Against the Utah Jazz — a team that had beaten Chicago by a whopping 30 points in the previous meeting between these two teams earlier this season — Mirotic had one of his better performances as a member of the Bulls.

For the second straight game, Mirotic’s contributions as a starter could not be overlooked. In 35 minutes of action, he scored 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting and he shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed nine rebounds to go along with two steals.

In light of this recent stretch of solid play, Mirotic’s confidence has gone through the roof.

"“I’ve been telling you guys, I’ve been very positive,” Mirotic told the Daily Herald. “Some of you guys, I’m thinking you thought I was joking. I was not joking. I was very, very serious. I told you we were going to be 4-0. We have to keep building from this, there’s going to come some tough games now. But with me back, we have more chances now.”"

Since his return to the rotation, Mirotic has compiled averages of 19.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing. Furthermore, he is shooting 57.1 percent overall and 52.2 percent from distance. Taking those numbers into consideration, it should come as no surprise as to why he is in good spirits these days.

Could the Bulls be heading towards a change in the lineup if Mirotic continues to play well? Probably not, considering Markkanen is considered the team’s future at the power forward spot.

Next: 2017-18 Week 9 NBA Power Rankings

At the same time, his production is definitely a huge positive for a Bulls team that ranks near the bottom of the league in offense.