The summer 2014 signing of Nikola Mirotic was a long time in coming. For years, fans would hear reports about this mystery star who was lighting up competition in arenas across the Atlantic Ocean. Fans remained cautiously optimistic regarding all they hype surrounding this Euro player. However, throughout the process of courting Nikola Mirotic to the United States to play for the Chicago Bulls, NBA scouts around the league insisted that this man was something special.
Jul 18, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls new players Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol pose for photos after a press conference at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bulls finalized a deal with Mirotic in mid-July of last summer in the form of a 3 year contract valued at approximately $16.6 million along with a $3 million payout to Nikola’ s former team Real Madrid. The Chicago Bulls finally had their Euro-star but he is a rookie and growing pains were assuredly going to persist. The hype surrounding Mirotic was unreal, with many scouts citing a ridiculously high ceiling for the 23 year old from Montenegro in Europe.
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David Nurse, an NBA scout at HoopsHype.com had some ridiculously positive comments when conducting a scouting report of the Euro-league superstar.
"From studying in-depth film, speaking with my connections in European basketball, and reading scouting reports of NBA execs that I have a great deal of respect for, all arrows point towards Mirotic becoming a legitimate star in the NBA and possibly truly being the Next Great European."
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla compared Nikola Mirotic to the rest of the highly touted 2014 draft class stating that Mirotic ranks right up there with the likes of Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.
"“I think he would have been the guy like we said with Jabari Parker, he’s the most ready to play in an NBA game right now. And we might have even made the statement Andrew Wiggins may have the most upside, but I honestly think he would have been in the top [few picks]. Let’s assume a healthy [Joel] Embiid, you’re definitely talking about [Mirotic being] a top-four pick.”"
Shortly after the Bulls acquired Mirotic, Bulls beat reporter Nick Friedell reported on his twitter page that the Chicago Bull’s were offered top ten picks by multiple teams in order to give up their rights to Mirotic. Of course the Bulls rejected all of these trade offers and the rest is history. Well, not yet, the Bulls have played 19 games so far this regular season, an extremely minute sample size to fully evaluate the play of the young rookie. However, all indications point to Mirotic reaching the level of expectation that accompanied him when the Bulls finally signed him this season. Mirotic’s success this season can be attributed to a number of factors (which I will get back to a little later), but first and foremost, Mirotic’s focused attitude coming into training camp is an instrumental reason why he has enjoyed a great deal of success in the NBA thus far.
After stalking Mirotic’s twitter page for awhile, it was clear that Mirotic approached his new gig with the Chicago Bulls with optimism and a willingness to work hard. Check out some of his tweets from last summer regarding his early training camp outlook.
From the onset, Mirotic has demonstrated an extreme desire to work as hard as he could to earn playing time on the Chicago Bulls. The fruit of his efforts are evident by his performance on the court. Mirotic is one of the hardest working players on the court, showing (sometimes comically) high levels of effort on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He understands the Chicago Bull’s culture of working hard and playing tough and has assimilated to fit this mold of a player. Sure, Mirotic isn’t a good defensive player, he may be one of our worst defenders, but the effort is definitely there. It takes awhile for players to learn the convoluted defensive system that Tom Thibodeau has put in place, and, it is a causal phenomenon that the Bull’s best defensive player’s have been in the system the longest. The Bull’s three best defenders, Noah, Butler and Gibson, have played for Coach Thibodeau for much of their careers. Derrick Rose has improved defensively with time under the tutelage of Tom Thibodeau. Mike Dunleavy has improved dramatically this year defensively, as proven by that opening day lock-down of Carmelo Anthony filling the injured Jimmy Butler’s usual role. For Mirotic, like many of the aforementioned players, it will take time. As long as he is willing to learn, and plays and works hard he will get better defensively with time. The transition of Nikola Mirotic to the NBA has been made infinitely easier by the presence of fellow European and 4 time all-star Pau Gasol on the roster. Gasol has undoubtedly taught Mirotic a lot about the NBA game and assisted Mirotic in handling the intense pressure of meeting the expectations that he entered the NBA with. Looking back at Mirotic’s twitter page again, the pictures and tweets indicate the stable-exchange stage of their current relationship.
Moving past the blatantly staged picture that comes across as somewhat awkward, there is other evidence besides pictures on twitter indicating that Pau Gasol has become a mentor for the young Nikola Mirotic.
Mirotic was given a best case scenario when he joined the Bulls with Pau Gasol. He has the opportunity to learn a great deal from Gasol, a player that plays the same position as he does (essentially) and comes from the same background. Expect Mirotic’s transition to the NBA level of play to be highly due to the presence of number 16. Pau Gasol recently chimed in on his relationship with Mirotic and some thoughts he has on his fellow European teammate 19 games into the 2014-2015 season.
"“He’s a great kid who just wants to work hard. He has a very fluid game; he can shoot it or drive, he loves to pass. I think if he continues to work hard he can be one of the best overseas players the NBA has ever seen. It’s tough to make that list, but he has the potential. I have him under my wing, I got my eye on him.”"
Nikola Mirotic has done a lot of good things in the minutes that he has been given this season with the Chicago Bulls. Two weeks ago, backup forward Taj Gibson went down with a severe ankle sprain and hasn’t played since. This really opened the door for Mirotic to come in and show what he can do in expanded minutes and he has answered the call with some very good play in these games. As follows is a few observations that I have noticed watching Nikola thus far this season.
Nov 30, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic (44) shoots the ball over Brooklyn Nets center Mason Plumlee (1) during the second quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
1. He isn’t a one-dimensional player. He came into the league coined as a pure shooter (Euro-league career 54.9% shooter, 40% from behind the arc), but has shown that he is so much more than just a spot up shooter. When defenders jump at him too aggressively, he shot fakes and has shown the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim all the way from behind the arc. His post game is lacking, but I could see major improvements in this facet of his game due to his teacher-student relationship with Pau Gasol. Once he fully gets confidence in his offensive game and continues to work within the offense and learning his teammates, he could drop 15+ (or more) points per game coming off the bench.
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2. The man can rebound. He jumps high and uses his 6 foot 11 inch frame to his advantage. He is sneakily athletic and has shown the ability to grab rebounds over bigger taller players. He has averaged 8 rebounds per game in the 6 games where his minutes have been increased due to the injury of Taj Gibson. To put this impressive rebounding total number (limited sample size I know) in perspective, Taj Gibson, regarded by many as a solid rebounder, only averages 5.2 boards this season.
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3. Mirotic has had some trouble staying in front of some of the freakishly athletic NBA big men and guards this season, however, he has shown an uncanny ability to recover when beat off the dribble. The guy has more blocks than I would ever have expected. He has 16 blocks in 19 games which is higher than Taj Gibson’s total and “only” trails Joakim Noah by 8. Pau Gasol leads the big man crew with a ridiculous total of 30 blocks thus far this season. Once this guy learns how to move his feet and actually put himself in better positions to swat away shots he may become the fourth head of the Bull’s big man shot blocking monster.
Nikola Mirotic is a 23 year old playing his rookie season in the NBA. There are going to be growing pains and frustrating mistakes. As a rookie, one of the most important things that he can do is continue to get his feet wet and use every minute of playing time as an opportunity to grow. He hasn’t reach the meteoric expectations that accompanied him to the United States, but very few rookies do 19 games into their first seasons as professionals in the NBA. However, he has remained grounded and focuses on the goal at hand. He has the right attitude towards his approach to every game and workout and has shown willingness to work very hard to accomplish his goals. He has show flashes of the “top 4 pick in the 2014 draft” potential. He isn’t close to being the next big thing coming out of Europe, yet, but that may change soon.
Nov 28, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) and Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic (44) celebrate Noah
But, someday, maybe in the near future, Nikola Mirotic will become a star. He has the raw talent, the work ethic, the intangibles and the three point shot. When he figures out how to put everything together the NBA better watch out.