Nikola Mirotic Forcing His Way Toward Front of Wide-Open NBA Rookie of the Year
Measuring how a Euroleague star's skill set translates to the NBA game is more art than science. For every Manu Ginobili or Vlade Divac, a dozen Jiri Welsches and Nikoloz Tskitishvili—busts if ever there were such things—remain to more than balance out the scouting ledgers.
The returns may be early, but Nikola Mirotic is looking more and more like a revelation in the making for the ascendant Chicago Bulls, not to mention a suddenly surging dark horse for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year honors.
Acquired by the Bulls in a 2011 draft-day trade, Mirotic spent the next three seasons biding his time with Liga ACB powerhouse Real Madrid. It was here that the 7-foot Montenegrin reinforced his reputation as one of the most versatile big men east of the Atlantic—a sweet-shooting, smooth-passing power forward purpose-built for the NBA’s increasingly stretch 4-centric sensibilities. In 2012, he became the first player in Euroleague history to win the coveted Rising Star Trophy two years in a row.
All the while, Chicago’s perennial offensive struggles made the potential fit all the more intriguing. Here was the kind of player head coach Tom Thibodeau needed to bolster his famously inconsistent bench, somewhat inconsistent defense notwithstanding.
So when word broke on July 18 that the Bulls had come to terms with their pick-and-stash sensation on a three-year, $16.6 million deal, the expectations were as simple as they were immediate for Mirotic: Help push Derrick Rose and Co. through the championship threshold.
Thus far, it’s looking like Chicago’s patience has paid off handsomely:
| Statistic | Production | Rookie Rank |
| Points | 8.4 | 5th |
| Points per 48 | 22.1 | 1st |
| FG% | .444 | 2nd |
| 3p% | .412 | 1st |
| Rebounds | 5.3 | 3rd |
| Rebounds per 48 | 13.9 | 4th |
At just 23 years old, Mirotic is far from a finished product. And while Thibodeau will no doubt demand more polish on defense, it’s at the other end of the floor that Mirotic’s versatility stands to pay permanent dividends.
Case in point: According to NBA.com (media stats require subscription), Chicago is registering an impressive net rating of plus-8.1 with Mirotic on the floor, second only to Aaron Brooks’ 9.0. That includes a fourth-best 107.9 offensive rating.
Skeptics may see in Mirotic’s 18.3 minutes per game—and the resulting per-36 minute statistics—as a clear sign that Chicago’s rising rook may never be more than a one-dimensional bench luxury. To the thinking of SB Nation’s Jesus Gomez, however, Mirotic’s first two months of NBA duty amount to a mere scratching of the statistical surface:
"Per 36 minute stats can be deceiving when used to discuss players that clearly can't be on the court for long periods of time, either because they have a glaring hole in their game or get into foul trouble often. Neither of those concerns apply to Mirotic, who without being anything close to a stopper can hold his own on defense and commits only 4.8 fouls per 36 minutes. In the games in which he has been on the court for over 20 minutes he averages 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds on 48 percent shooting. He clearly can handle more playing time, but because the Bulls are stacked at the forward and center positions he is relegated to a smaller role.
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With Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson commanding the lion’s share of frontcourt minutes, forging a permanent niche for Mirotic is easier said than done. Still, that’s not stopping Thibodeau from wielding any strategic cinch he can to assure Mirotic isn’t left to intermittently languish on the bench—a quiver that includes playing the 7-footer more at the small forward slot (per RealGM.com).
Mirotic’s impact is easy to glean from the numbers, of course. More impressive still has been how seamlessly the beard-brandishing big has endeared himself to one of the game’s most notoriously fickle field generals.
Here’s Thibodeau in a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson:
"He's done a great job right from the start. In many ways, it's very similar to Omer (Asik). I went into the season knowing from the time that I was around him that I liked him. I didn't know how much he would play or how much he'd be ready for. You never know that until they get out there and you see them function. Everything that he has done, whether it's short or long minutes, he's done well.
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With all three of Mirotic, Gibson and Gasol on the books through at least 2016-17 (the latter has a player option for that season), it’ll be interesting to see how Thibodeau will continue divvying up his frontcourt minutes—to strike the best possible balance between re-establishing the team’s traditionally elite defense while maintaining its somewhat surprising offensive renaissance.
The assumed departure of Mike Dunleavy next summer may well help untangle this logjam, particularly if the Mirotic-at-small-forward experiment continues to gain traction.
Even if his fate ends up being that of a sixth-man extraordinaire, Mirotic will more than justify Chicago’s three-year gamble, to say nothing of the $16.6 million—a pittance, at this point, when compared to Mirotic’s potential long-term value.
Andrew Wiggins, K.J. McDaniels and Jabari Parker (season-ending injury aside) might represent the high-gloss vanguard of the 2014 rookie class, forged as they were in the more familiar furnace of the NCAA. The upside is far too high—the marketing power too potent—for the narrative to deign otherwise.
As a testament to what’s possible when the right player finds the right place at the right time, though, Mirotic has perhaps the best chance of seizing the inside track for Rookie of the Year.
For Mirotic and the Bulls, patience has proven a potent virtue indeed. So long as Thibodeau heeds that mantra himself, it might even become a championship one.
All stats courtesy of NBA.com and current as of December 28, unless otherwise noted.
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