Nikola Mirotic had already been away from the window, but has now surprisingly led the Chicago Bulls to six consecutive wins and appears like a completely new player. What is behind it – and what happens next?
It would be quite an understatement to say that the last weeks for the bulls followed a zigzag course. The 6th. In December, exactly two weeks ago, they had their tenth defeat in a row and then stood on a 3-20 record. This came as no surprise to anyone, since Chicago has a refuelling squad this season, but no ambitions.
Since that 6. However, something has changed since December. The Bulls have played six games since then – and won all of them, including a close away win in Milwaukee and a blowout against Celtics (excluding Kyrie Irving). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Bulls are the first team in NBA history to follow a series of at least ten defeats with at least five victories.
The turnaround is of course no coincidence and not surprising at all: Nikola Mirotic has been available to the Bulls again for six games!
The last sentence was of course meant ironically. No one expected it, certainly not Mirotic himself. Only a few weeks ago, there was some doubt as to whether Mirotic would even run for the Bulls again. According to various reports, he has long since demanded a trade.
As a reminder, Mirotic missed the start of the season because Bobby Portis had beaten him in a training session, causing several facial fractures. In the meantime, Mirotic refused to accept Portis’ apology, which in turn seemed to have a higher standing with the team than he did.
Coach Fred Hoiberg repeatedly expressed the hope that the two would be able to repair their relationship with time. But of course nobody really wanted to believe in it. As Mirotic was getting ready to play again, they joked about this “one-two-punch” – but not with the ulterior motive that this could actually work.
Now only a few games have been played and Mirotic and Portis have only been on the court together for 74 minutes – but during this time the Bulls have a net rating of +18.8. It’s the best 2-man line-up in the squad, but it helps that Mirotic missed the 20 defeats before. Still: One-Two Punch, but so much of it!
“Bobby and I play well together,” said Mirotic, who has now officially accepted Portis’ apology,”we find each other and give the team the energy it needs. It seems the team is playing very well when we’re both on the court. We have to thank Fred[Hoiberg] for that, because he’s taking us to the right spots.”
The man himself claimed that he was not surprised by the good interplay of the two earlier taps, because both are “pros”:”Both play with a lot of passion and emotion. You can see how well they fit together. It’s really fun to watch.”
It is difficult to believe that Hoiberg really anticipated this development, it is almost impossible. But he’s definitely right that the bulls are fun these days – not just the team-internal Fight Club.
Until recently, Bulls games were catastrophic to watch, but suddenly they defend well, let the ball circulate and play a modern ball – high pace, lots of movement, a lot of passion. Everything with Mirotic in focus: The Forward is currently out of the field with 20.3 points and 7.3 rebounds at 52 percent and 50 percent of the three-line and spurs his team on again and again just like the fans.
“Niko is a very good leader,”said Kris Dunn, who, by the way, is unrecognizable, and Mirotic himself recently said:”This is my moment, our moment. I am very proud of the fact that we are once again finding a way to win games. Before I came back, we had problems and no fun with the game.”
Even though Mirotic has always had his moments in his three previous seasons, his current game has hardly anything to do with what he was known for. Meanwhile he has admitted that the incident with Portis was a wake-up call for him. The fact that Mirotic has to recommend themselves is also important – the Bulls have a team option for the coming season (12.5 million dollars), so he has no guaranteed contract.
“It’s something of both. I need emotions when I’m playing,”explained Mirotic,”Last season I probably didn’t feel that way. But it’s a lot easier if you win. I haven’t had as much fun for a long time as I do now. I just play with a lot of confidence and try not to think too much.”
The hesitation was something that Mirotic has often been accused of in recent years – now he just lets the ball fly.”You’ve been killing me for the last few years,’ Pump-Fake, Pump-Fake Niko,’ and that’s why I’m leaving it now,”Mirotic recently replied with a grin at the question why he’s suddenly no longer inhibited.
This all sounds quite simple – but Mirotic and the Bulls are still to be enjoyed with caution, of course. Not only sporty, they won’t win the next 50 games now, but that’s not the plan. On the contrary, if they keep on like this, they’re killing themselves with the high lottery pick, which is actually the overriding goal of this season.
But also internally there is no indication that Mirotic has withdrawn its trade claim. Even though due to its contractual structure it was not signed until the 18th century. January can be traded – and has a veto right, so any deal could block.
The Bulls are also doing their homework, despite all the cheerfulness, according to the Chicago Tribune. They are said to have carefully asked several teams what they might get for Mirotic (and Robin Lopez). They want to enter into (draft picks, of course) but not long-term contracts. In general, none of Paul Zipser’s team is untouchable except Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine and maybe Dunn.
Mirotic’s contract does not guarantee that a trade will take place this season, but it is still the most likely scenario. Mirotic is in the window – what was to be expected. It was just not to be expected that he would be such an attractive “mannequin”.
“When we think about what a modern player looks like, something like Mirotic comes out,”said Sixers coach Brett Brown recently. His Hot Streak has caused a sensation, especially since Mirotic currently looks much more defensive than you are used to,”he is defensively much better than his reputation. He does many small things that are overlooked,”Hoiberg explained.
Doubts are certainly justified because he can keep this for several weeks. But in the current condition, Mirotic would be a really attractive addition to the ambitious teams. By mid-January, many playoff teams will certainly look closely into the matter and consider whether “Threekola” might be worth a first round pick.
“When I play, I just tell myself to do your job and have fun doing it. I try to keep things as simple as possible,”said Mirotic after the sixth win in a row. He’s done pretty well with it so far.