Chicago Bulls rumors: Nikola Mirotic could be heading to Utah Jazz
It is being reported that Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic could be traded to the Utah Jazz.
Chicago Bulls Nikola Mirotic signed a two-year deal with the team during the offseason and he was hoping to have his best season in the Windy City. However, those plans were derailed following a preseason altercation with teammate Bobby Portis, which forced him to miss the first 23 games of the season.
Without the fourth-year forward in the lineup, the Bulls got off to an abysmal 3-20 start – the worst mark in the league at that time. Since Mirotic has returned to the lineup, though, the Bulls have turned things around.
Not only did they follow up a 10-game losing skid with a seven-game winning streak – something no other team has accomplished in NBA history — the Bulls have also won 12 of their last 19 games and improved to 15-27 on the season.
While no one saw that kind of turnaround coming from a team entering the first year of a rebuild, what is even more surprising is how well Mirotic has played during that stretch. In 17 appearances, Mirotic is averaging 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing.
On top of that, Mirotic is shooting 48.6 percent from the field overall and an impressive 46.5 percent from 3-point range. With that in mind, it appeared that Mirotic was in a happy place. After all, he has always been adamant about how much he wanted to remain in Chicago (prior to the incident with Portis) and he’s having the best season of his young career in a Bulls uniform.
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Despite what conventional wisdom would have you think, Mirotic could be on the move sooner rather than later. In fact, according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, the Bulls and the Utah Jazz have entered preliminary talks regarding a trade between the two ball clubs.
One scenario has the Jazz sending Derrick Favors (12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per outing) to the Bulls for Mirotic. Of course, with Mirotic playing the best basketball of his career, the Bulls want to capitalize on his recent success by requesting a first round pick as well.
For Bulls fans, this deal may be a mixed bag, considering they have been waiting for this version of Mirotic to show up after three years of inconsistent play. From an organizational standpoint, being that Lauri Markkanen has proven he can be productive at both ends of the floor, moving Mirotic, while trying to acquire a first round pick without taking on any huge contracts in return, is a wise choice.
On the other side of the coin, the Jazz are in a difficult stretch, to say the least. Not only is their offensive rating (106.1 points per 100 possessions) just the 22nd-best mark in the NBA, the Jazz are also ranked 27th in scoring (101 points per contest).
Furthermore, the Jazz have dropped 13 of their last 17 games and this group is in desperate need of another versatile scorer in the lineup – something Mirotic has proven he can be since returning to the Bulls’ rotation, even if his defense isn’t always stellar.
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Whether or not this deal comes to fruition remains to be seen. What is a certainty – be it for better or worse – is that Mirotic’s days in a Bulls uniform are numbered.