Nikola Mirotic Still Has More to Offer Chicago Bulls
Nikola Mirotic has demonstrated proficiency in a variety ways over the course of his debut season. His rookie status may not put him in the highest standing with head coach Tom Thibodeau, but it is apparent that the 23-year-old Montenegrin brings so much more to the table than the typical first-year player.
While playing for Real Madrid, Mirotic blossomed into a phenomenal athlete. He won the Euroleague Rising Star award twice and played extremely well among arguably the best collection of basketball talent outside of the NBA.
Now he is stateside, taking advantage of the opportunity to show that he fits in with the hardwood elite. Being a member of the Bulls does mean having to play for a coach who takes a gradual integration approach with rookies; however, a litany of frontcourt injuries have provided Mirotic with ample chances to crack the rotation.
He has responded well with the unexpected minutes and made a strong case for deserving continued consideration. If this is to endure going forward, Thibodeau needs to work out two major things: the best personnel grouping that complements Mirotic’s skill set and how to fit him into the rotation with a healthy Bulls roster.
Measuring up with his peers
Despite being drafted a few years ago, Mirotic’s league cohort include some very talented players like heralded youngsters Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins. The former Duke standout’s recent season-ending injury notwithstanding, there are some very telling details when the 2014 class’ current numbers are dissected.
It would be unfair to include all rookies in a comparison since minutes and games played vary greatly from top to bottom. With one-third of the season in the books, a reasonable base criterion for evaluating the performance of the current novices is to establish a minimum for games played, 15 in this case.
With that grouping, the objective numbers have Mirotic ranked seventh in scoring, third in rebounding, third in field-goal percentage, second in three-point percentage and second in free throws attempted. These data are based on the statistics recorded within the amount of time played.
All of those rankings are promising, but when stretched over a per 36-minute model, it gets a lot more interesting within that field.
Right now, Mirotic plays 18.5 minutes per game. He has played at least 20 minutes 11 times since the season began, so projecting his production over a hypothetical 36-minute block is not too illogical. Within those expanded parameters, he goes to being first in scoring; the other aforementioned categories remain the same, which is still pretty impressive.
This suggests that Mirotic could be one of the more consistent Bulls contributors if given the proper chance, and therein lies the challenge. His designated position, along with the roster depth, presents more problems than solutions for finding a stable spot in the rotation.
Make room for Niko
Mirotic is listed as a power forward, and that is the reason why playing time will be hard to come by for him; his positional superiors are Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson. When those guys are healthy, along with starting center Joakim Noah, playing time becomes horribly scarce for the rookie forward.
There have been seven instances where Mirotic has played fewer than 10 minutes per game. The personnel for those contests included a complete and present frontcourt. Most of the exhibitions where he’s had a more significant amount of time came when a big was injured, thus making him the third option in the trio that dominates forward/center minutes.
Mirotic has clearly demonstrated that he can produce when given the time. Considering the injury issues that the front-line grouping has endured over the season’s first few months, it suffices to say that increasing the former European sensation’s playing time by slightly reducing minutes for Gasol, Gibson and Noah would serve the team well in the long run.
This move would also allow Mirotic to be paired with either Gasol or Noah when on the court. Those couplings work out great as he would need a counterpart whose skill set complemented his. Mirotic can spot up as well as drive; being paired off with someone who can play with his back to the basket and pass makes for a great way to diminish the opposition’s interior defense.
So many more things would also open up with Mirotic on the floor. He would minimize low-post double teams and create driving lanes for guys like Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.
This suggestion is only part of the solution. Thibodeau is very dependent on his usual frontcourt cast, and even a slight reduction in playing time for each regular big would only yield seven to nine extra minutes per game for Mirotic. Add that to playing time he usually gets when Noah, Gasol and Gibson are active (refer back to the sub-10 minute point), and it amounts to approximately 14 minutes per game.
Recalling Mirotic’s 36-minute projections, there’s not even a remote possibility that Thibodeau plays a first-year prospect that much over an entire season.
A fair solution for a rookie who has shown the ability to step up when asked without going overboard would be to get him as close to 20 minutes per game as possible.
This might require him stealing a few minutes at small forward, which would be a relief for resident iron man Butler and 12-year veteran Mike Dunleavy; also, it would ensure that he is still on the court with at least one of the other bigs who can play off of his strengths.
There may be a concern with his ability to guard more athletic wings, but he has the length and the footwork to build a satisfactory defensive presence on the perimeter.
Mirotic is ready
Mirotic has broken the 20-minute threshold 13 times in the 28 games he’s played. He has scored in double figures in all but three of those matches. His December 19 performance against a usually stingy Memphis Grizzlies defense shows that he can get going with the best of them.
The best thing about him being able to handle the pressure when called upon is that he also understands that he is still a work in progress.
In a December 21 article by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, the writer reports that after Mirotic’s sensational game against the Grizziles, he was back at the practice center the next day to look at film and work on his shooting. This was a designated day off, no less.
Johnson quotes the grounded young man expressing his desire to not only continue playing satisfactorily but improve—“…I come here to practice (Saturday) morning because I want more. I'm hungry because I want every day to be a better player. It's not over. It's just one good game. I want to keep playing well."
The perspective exhibited with this quote shows that Mirotic is willing to accept whatever is asked of him and will continue to work hard in order to take advantage of every opportunity that may come his way.
He is deserving of more court time, but it’s nice to know that when he isn’t playing much, he is still a diligent student of the game. Mirotic has all of the physical and mental tools required to become an impactful player in this league. It can be said with confidence that he will make the most of his opportunity whether it comes now or later.
All statistics, derived from NBA.com, are cited where specific clarification is needed and are current as of December 23, 2014.
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