Chicago Bulls: Nikola Mirotic on the trade block
With trade season approaching rapidly, it is officially time to believe the hype you are hearing about players who could be moved before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. For the Chicago Bulls, the push to trade Nikola Mirotic is harder than ever.
For the Chicago Bulls, Nikola Mirotic is one of the last pieces of the Derrick Rose era that needs to go.
Why?
Simple: unreliability on the court, and ever since his boneheaded fight with teammate Bobby Portis (ending in an eight game suspension for Portis), unreliability off the court.
Look, a player’s ethos gets a long look when it comes to building a team and trade value. Although this is the only major blip in Nikola’s record book, couple it with his historic cold streaks and he becomes much less of a hot commodity this time of year.
The Bulls are determined to find a partner, and thanks to his strong December (averaging 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game since his return), they just may be able to unload him.
Although the Detroit Pistons are reportedly interested, coach Stan Van Gundy seemed blindsided when asked about the potential move. Although Nikola Mirotic would fit in nicely from a basketball stance with center Andre Drummond and wing Tobias Harris, the truth is that this seems like more of a pipe dream since the Detroit Pistons have little to nothing to offer in return.
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No, the real end game for the Chicago Bulls should be getting picks and young bigs. And that is exactly where the Utah Jazz fit into the situation.
Derrick Favors is a similar deal to Nikola Mirotic: both 26 years old, power forwards and very similar contracts. However, what Derrick Favors can offer is understated reliability, something Nikola Mirotic really dropped the ball on for the Bulls. In addition, adding Derrick Favors would give Chicago the rebounding help it severely lacks between current bigs Lauri Markkanen and Robin Lopez. The Utah Jazz are in desperation mode and this Hail Mary could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
If general manager Gar Forman is wise, he will try to get more than just Derrick Favors, particularly because the ex-lottery pick has a lengthy injury history, and of course, the Jazz reek of desperation with ongoing injuries to star center Rudy Gobert and a subsequent losing streak.
Despite being near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the truth is that the Chicago Bulls are a lot better off than they may seem. If they can pull of a swap for Derrick Favors, albeit not being a salary dump by any means, they will have successfully taken another stride forward.
Teams might not be chomping at the bit for Mirotic, but he is a viable trade piece and the optics are surprisingly positive for a player who literally brawled with his own teammate before the season began. Some kind of luck, huh?
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The trade deadline is Forman’s opportunity to illustrate how a merger of basketball and business acumen can propel a team’s rebuild forward. It worked for the Boston Celtics, and for another classic franchise in the Chicago Bulls, there is no reason to stop hoping that the next move will be the one that puts them into the next phase of this rebuild.