Chicago Bulls: Takeaways from Nikola Mirotic trade

3. Bobby Portis ready to move on

It is no secret that Bobby Portis wanted to be considered for the starting power forward spot coming into the season. However, despite Mirotic spending more time in the weight room than with his teammates, he was given the nod.

This couldn’t have sat well with Portis and he probably felt he got the short end of the stick. Bearing this in mind, it wasn’t too surprising when the news broke about the two players getting into that altercation.

Obviously, Portis was wrong for throwing the punch that landed Mirotic in the hospital, potentially altering the course of his season. To his credit, Portis offered an apology a couple of days after the incident transpired, but Mirotic and his representatives were not receptive and they requested a trade.

In the eyes of some people, Portis could be the scapegoat, considering his role in the exchange. But if you thought Portis was going to blame himself for Mirotic wanting to be elsewhere, well, let’s just say he wasn’t ready to go that far.

"“We tried to be professional, make things work on the court — we had great chemistry playing the high-low game,” Portis told the Chicago Tribune. “Off the court, we never talked. We played cards [on the plane] one time. It was kind of awkward, so after that we didn’t play anymore.”"

Now that Mirotic is suiting up with another team, Portis will have ample opportunity to earn a more prominent role within the rotation and being that he’s already posting career averages, that trend will more than likely continue during the second half of the season.