- Center Robin Lopez, power forward Nikola Mirotic and shooting guard Justin Holiday are three Bulls players that Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times views as trade bait. All three are rotation players whose contracts expire after next season, though there’s a team option on the final year of Mirotic’s deal, worth $12.5MM.
Not only does the return of Nikola Mirotic give the struggling Bulls an extra offensive weapon, he provides a calm confidence that the young team can benefit from. Nick Friedell of ESPN writes that Mirotic has set the bar high upon his return, taking particular pleasure in the fact that the 5-20 team is 2-0 since he returned to the court.
Friedell adds that Mirotic has been playing particularly well alongside frontcourt teammate Bobby Portis. Together the pair who’s training camp skirmish made national headlines is rocking a 115.6 offensive rating with a 103.8 defensive rating. The pairing alone has yielded 59 of the Bulls’ 223 points over the last two games and they’ve only been on the floor together for 24 minutes.
The Bulls may be in the midst of a rebuild, not particularly committed to any specific player, but Mirotic has shown plenty of potential when asked to take on a large offensive role. From March 22 on last season, Mirotic averaged 17.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in just under 30 minutes per game.
After being sidelined for over a month and a half, Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic is set to make his season debut on Friday night against the Hornets, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Mirotic had targeted tonight’s game for his return, and head coach Fred Hoiberg confirmed after today’s shootaround that the veteran big man is ready to go.
“Niko will play tonight,” Hoiberg said. “We talked about starting out with him being careful about his minutes. There’s no hard number, per se. We just have to be smart about this as he works his way back into playing shape, especially the back-to-back here in his first stint. So he’ll go out and probably play 15-20 minutes tonight. It could be different depending on the flow of the game, but he’s excited to be back and we’re excited to have him out there.”
It has been an eventful few months for Mirotic, who reached restricted free agency for the first time in July, and had hoped to sign a lucrative new deal. After spending several months on the open market though, the 26-year-old settled for a two-year, $25MM deal with the Bulls. That’s certainly not bad money, but with only the first year’s salary guaranteed, it’s less than what Mirotic had hoped for.
After re-signing with the Bulls, Mirotic appeared poised to open the season as the team’s starting power forward, but an altercation with teammate Bobby Portis prior to opening night hospitalized Mirotic, who was on the receiving end of a Portis punch. The blow resulted in a concussion and multiple facial fractures for Mirotic, as well as an eight-game suspension for Portis.
While Mirotic and Portis appear to have made amends – at least enough to coexist on the court and the bench – it’s still worth keeping an eye on Mirotic’s play over the next several weeks. The sharpshooting power forward becomes eligible to be traded on January 15, and it seems unlikely that he and the Bulls have a long-term future. If he plays well, Mirotic should draw some interest around the NBA prior to the February 8 trade deadline.
As we outlined earlier today, ASM Sports president Andy Miller has relinquished his certification as an agent after his agency was raided by the FBI as part of an investigation into college basketball corruption. Miller’s roster of NBA clients features a number of notable names, including some All-Stars, so what’s next for them?
According to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter links), Miller’s clients have been told that their contracts with Miller are no longer in effect, allowing them to sign new deals with other certified NBA agents. As Mullen notes, there’s usually a 15-day waiting period when a player changes agents, but that 15-day period is waived when an agent relinquishes his certification. As such, players like Kyle Lowry, Kristaps Porzingis, and Serge Ibaka will be free to hire new representation immediately.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Although he’s widely viewed as one of the biggest NBA draft busts of the last decade, former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett hasn’t given up on his efforts to get back into the league and make an impact. Bennett recently spoke to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders about his career and about playing in the G League.
- Veteran NBA guard Nate Robinson is looking for an opportunity to return to the NBA, suggesting that a team like the Bulls could use him, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando details.
- While Lonzo Ball and Markelle Fultz stole most of the pre-draft headlines, many of the stars of this year’s rookie class came off the board a little later. Alex Squadron of The New York Post examines some of the more unsung rookie standouts of the 2017/18 season, including John Collins (Hawks), Lauri Markkanen (Bulls), and OG Anunoby (Raptors).
- Former Grizzlies guard Xavier Munford, who was in camp with the Bucks in October, has hired agents Happy Walters and George Langberg of Catalyst Sports for representation, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders. Munford has played well for Milwaukee’s G League affiliate this season, averaging 24.4 PPG and 5.3 APG with a .551/.641/.737 shooting line for the Wisconsin Herd.
Fedor noted that the Cavaliers’ offense and defense have been better with Rose off the court. Injuries have taken a toll on Rose’s 29-year-old body as he is no longer the NBA Most Valuable Player-caliber talent he was with the Bulls. However, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said Rose’s ability to score would still be a welcome addition.
- Nikola Mirotic was in a good mood for the first time in a long time while speaking to reporters after his first G League practice, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago writes. Mirotic has missed the season thus far due to facial surgery, a result of a preseason fight with Bulls teammate Bobby Portis. Both men have seemingly agreed to move past the incident and focus on the team.
- The Bulls have sent second-year guard Kay Felder back to the G League, according to the team (Twitter link). Felder will soon be joined by Zach LaVine, who will continue rehabbing his ACL injury with the Windy City Bulls.
While there’s still no specific target date for Zach LaVine‘s debut with the Bulls, he appears likely to return from his ACL injury in January rather than December, according to dispatches from K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune and Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Speaking today to reporters, including Johnson and Cowley, Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said that LaVine is still practicing every other day — that schedule figures to remain in place for another week or two. After that, the fourth-year guard will need to show that he’s capable of handling an everyday practice schedule before the Bulls are ready to have him appear in a game.
“The big thing is he needs to string together a good 10 days of practice to where he’s not going every other day,” Hoiberg said of LaVine. “I would say the next 10 days is not going to happen. He’s still going to be on the every other day program at least for another 10 days to two weeks, and then we’ll take it from there as far as getting him consecutive-day workouts, and then get him back shortly after that.”
There should be no rush for the Bulls to get LaVine back into their lineup, despite the fact that he was one of the key pieces acquired in June’s Jimmy Butler blockbuster. The club currently holds the NBA’s worst record, at 3-19, and is a much stronger contender for the No. 1 overall pick than for a playoff spot. LaVine will be a restricted free agent in 2018, at which point the Bulls are expected to lock him up to a long-term deal, so it’s more important that he’s healthy and productive in future seasons.
Once LaVine is ready to make his Bulls debut, he’ll likely start off by playing about 12 to 18 minutes per night, Hoiberg said today.
Along with Derrick Rose‘s reported desire to rejoin the Cavaliers, coach Tyronn Lue will have another lineup decision to make when Tristan Thompson becomes healthy enough to return, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Thompson, who moved into the starting lineup after beginning the season as a reserve, has been sidelined since early November with a strained left calf. He hopes to start playing sometime this week, though probably not in the Cavs’ next game, which is tomorrow.
Cleveland was just 1-4 with Thompson as a starter and has been more successful with a smaller lineup featuring Kevin Love at center. With Jae Crowder joining Love, LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Jose Calderon in the starting five, the Cavaliers, who have won 11 in a row, can put five shooters on the floor together. Lue noted Saturday that the team is 15-3 with Love as the starting center, so Thompson may have to adapt to a reserve role.
There’s more this morning from the Central Division:
- He may be biased, but James is endorsing teammate Dwyane Wade for Sixth Man of the Year, relays Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Wade signed with the Cavaliers after agreeing to a buyout with the Bulls shortly before training camp. He was a starter for the first three games, but asked to come off the bench and has excelled as the leader of the second unit, averaging 12.3 points and 4.0 assists in 23.5 minutes in the new role. “Team success is always up there with winning an award, that’s just my personal opinion,” James said. “Then the impact you make on that second lineup, or whatever lineup that you’re in.”
- The Bulls will get some much-needed help with the impending return of Nikola Mirotic and Zach LaVine, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Mirotic is expected back this week after healing from facial fractures he suffered during a preseason skirmish with teammate Bobby Portis. Mirotic will likely join Portis as part of the second unit. The team is being more cautious with LaVine, who is recovering from a torn ACL. He is expected to start playing in late December or early January. “You can get excited watching him,” said executive VP John Paxson. “He has moments where his athleticism makes you go, ‘Wow, this would really help us on the court.’ But we have to make sure as he comes back that he’s really good to go. And even then we’re going to be cautious with his minutes.”
- Bulls guard David Nwaba returned Friday, even though he says his sprained right ankle hasn’t fully healed, Johnson relays in a separate story. Nwaba had earned a starting spot before the injury, which sidelined him for nearly all of November. He’ll probably return to a reserve role, especially with LaVine expected back.
Joel Embiid‘s strong start could lead to a bonus that would affect the Sixers’ ability to compete on the free agent market next summer, writes Bobby Marks of ESPN.
The second-year center signed a five-year extension over the summer that has a base value of $146MM, but could rise as high as $178MM if he reaches certain benchmarks. That includes a hefty bonus if he is named Most Valuable Player or earns first-team All-NBA honors this season. Embiid, who came into tonight averaging 22.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, is certainly a candidate to make the All-NBA team at center, especially with the injury to Rudy Gobert and the move of Anthony Davis to power forward.
The bonus would raise Embiid’s cap hit from $25.3MM to $30.3MM for 2018/19 and would cost Philadelphia $5MM in cap space for each subsequent year of the contract. The Sixers have nearly $32MM in projected cap room right now, not counting $1.6MM team options for T.J. McConnell and Richaun Holmes, so $5MM could affect their ability to offer a full max contract.
Emiid’s contract also contains a minutes clause that could boost his future earnings. He can make his contract fully guaranteed starting in 2020/21 or 2021/22 if he plays at least 1,650 minutes in three consecutive years or three out of four starting with this season. He has accumulated 532 minutes in 18 games, putting him on pace to reach that figure for this year.
Marks passes on a few other tidbits related to contract incentives:
- The punch from Bobby Portis that hospitalized Nikola Mirotic has cost the Bulls forward $1MM in bonuses. Mirotic had four benchmarks valued at $250K each, and although each was unlikely, he needed to play 65 games to be eligible and he has already missed 20.
- Nets guard Jeremy Lin, who played just one game this season before needing knee surgery, missed a chance to earn several bonuses worth $750K.
- Nuggets forward Paul Millsap has a $500K incentive for making the All-Star team, which is impossible after wrist surgery that will keep him sidelined until after the February 18 game. Millsap had been an All-Star the past four seasons in the East. He also would receive a $150K bonus for playing 65 games and averaging seven rebounds per 36 minutes, but that’s out of reach because of the injury. He can still get $150K if the Nuggets make the playoffs, but for now his cap hit for next season will be cut from $29.7MM to $29.2MM.
- Gobert took the biggest hit because of injury, which could cost him up to $2MM. The Jazz center, who is not expected back until the middle of the month because of a bone bruise in his right knee, had a pair of $250K incentives based on 67 games played, along with a $500K bonus for being named first team All-Defense and $1MM for making the All-Star game.
- Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon needs his scoring and rebounding averages to total more than 16 to collect a $900K bonus. He was at 11.1 PPG and 7.8 RPG before his recent injury.
- The Trail Blazers could see a smaller luxury tax bill if Maurice Harkless continues to struggle with his three-point shot. Currently shooting 24.3% from distance, Harkless needs to reach 35% at the end of the season to get a $500K bonus. If he falls short, Portland’s tax bill will dip from $4.3MM to $3.5MM.
The draft day trade that sent Jimmy Butler from Chicago to Minnesota is starting to pay dividends for the Bulls, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. With Zach LaVine‘s return nearing, the overall haul the franchise got in return for its outgoing star is starting to round in to shape.
Both Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn have shown that they could be long-term Bulls building blocks in their own right, the former stepping up with 13.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game as a rookie and the latter showing the sheer, raw promise that made him such a highly touted lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Markkanen’s emergence has come quicker than expected thanks largely in part to the double-whammy that hit the Bulls prior to the regular season. When Bobby Portis decked Nikola Mirotic in practice before the season opener, the 20-year-old Finn was thrust into the starting lineup. To this point, he hasn’t looked back.