Nikola Mirotic Still Adjusting to Bigger Role for Chicago Bulls

PORTLAND, Ore. — During Chicago Bulls training camp, head coach Fred Hoiberg made a bold, unorthodox and, some would say, controversial decision: Former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah would move to the bench, and second-year power forward Nikola Mirotic would replace him in the starting lineup.

The idea was to open up the offense—Noah and Pau Gasol had never really worked as a frontcourt tandem, and Mirotic’s floor-stretching ability would better complement Gasol and take pressure off Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.

That was the plan, anyway. But rather than blossoming after a promising rookie season, Mirotic has struggled.

His outside shooting, in particular, has been the definition of streaky: four stellar shooting nights to start the season followed by three atrocious ones, and an 0-of-6 night from beyond the arc in Friday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors followed by a strong 3-of-4 performance from deep in Tuesday’s 93-88 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

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On the season, Mirotic is shooting just 37.2 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three-point range. This comes after a rookie campaign in which he shot 31.6 percent from three, a problem when the source of his impact is supposed to be his shooting.

“I know this is going to be a long year,” Mirotic told Bleacher Report after the win in Portland. “I’m not expecting anything to happen right now. After the first four or five games, I had three or four games not shooting great, but the team was playing great. But the last two games, I’m playing with much more confidence and much more energy.”

Opposing defenses are starting to catch up. The pump fakes that he frequently throws into possessions aren’t fooling defenders the way they did when he came into the league. He’s pump-faked on 23 of his 129 shot attempts this season and made just three of those attempts (13 percent), while shots where he didn’t employ a fake saw him shooting 41.9 percent—not great by any means, but at least passable.

Mirotic realizes it’s a problem.

“The shot is coming,” Mirotic said. “It’s all about confidence. The first four or five games I had great confidence shooting the ball, less pump faking. I know people are worried about it, and sometimes I know it’s not a good idea. It depends on the game. If I’m feeling confident, I’ll try to just catch and shoot. But if I’m not, I’ll try to adjust to the defense.”

Mirotic’s teammates are encouraging him to let it fly without thinking too much, which has been his Achilles’ heel.

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“I tell Niko to shoot it anytime he gets open looks because I’ve seen him shoot the ball contested, uncontested,” Jimmy Butler said at Bulls practice in Portland on Monday. “[A three-pointer] is a good shot for Niko, being [6'10"]. Make them guard you and then you can throw in a pump fake, but shoot to score, shoot to score the ball first.”

While he waits for the consistency to come on his outside shot, Mirotic has been trying to make an impact in other ways, including rebounding and attacking the basket to draw contact.

“I don’t want to depend just on my shot,” Mirotic said. “The last couple of games, I was trying to penetrate more, distribute the ball, making assists.”

Outside of Butler, no Bulls player has been consistent this season. But with a new starting role and a longer leash than the one he had under Tom Thibodeau, a breakout year from Mirotic was supposed to be one of the factors that propelled the Bulls from also-ran to legitimate contender. They’re 9-4 on the season, but they’ve rarely looked elite. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

“To tell you the truth, it’s not always on Niko,” Butler said. “Maybe it’s on the people that handle the ball the most—me and Derrick, the facilitators—to get him the ball to where he’s comfortable and making shots. It’s our job to try and make it easier on him, so maybe we should be the ones to try and get him the ball in positions that we know he can score.”

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In the meantime, the Bulls and Mirotic can only hope he shoots his way out of this slump. The organization still views him as a major piece of its core for years to come, and at just 24, Mirotic’s best basketball is almost certainly ahead of him. Navigating his current struggles will be a part of determining just how good he can be over the long haul.

He's certainly being given every opportunity to succeed.

“The good thing is that my coach, my teammates, they all trust me,” Mirotic said. “They all try to look for me for shots. That’s great, the confidence they have in me. It helps.”

*Advanced statistics, unless otherwise noted, were obtained through firsthand observation.

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.