Nikola Mirotic’s contract situation still remains one of the summer’s bizzare things
John Paxson was asked about the Nikola Mirotic contract situation on Tuesday and to the surprise of nobody, there’s still nothing really going on between the two sides in terms of a new deal.
During the Chicago Bulls’ press conference to introduce former coach Doug Collins as a senior advisor of basketball operations on Tuesday afternoon in Chicago, Bulls vice president of basketball ops John Paxson was asked about Nikola Mirotic’s contract situation.
Mirotic, who became a restricted free agent on July 1 when the NBA’s free agency period opened, still remains unsigned for the upcoming season. Outside of the Jimmy Butler trade that led to acquiring Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and eventually Lauri Markkanen, all the Bulls have done is sign Cristiano Felicio to a four-year deal.
Despite remaining a restricted free agent, Mirotic is still working out at the Advocate Center practice facility for the Bulls and remains keen on playing in Chicago. The Bulls front office has expected Mirotic back since the beginning of the contract rumors and questions during this past season and the summer, but no deal has been made.
When Paxson was asked about the Mirotic situation by ESPN’s Nick Friedell at the press conference for Collins on Tuesday, here’s what he had to say:
It’s now Sept. 20 and the Bulls still don’t have a deal done. That’s honestly amazing.
The qualifying offer that Paxson mentioned is around $7.2 million for this season, so basically, that means Mirotic can make $7.2 million this season if he accepts the offer and then he can become an unrestricted free agent next summer and join any team that offers him a deal.
Right now, he’s a restricted free agent, which means that the Bulls can match any offer sheet presented to Mirotic. Unfortunately for Mirotic, none came about during the early potion of the free agency period and from the sounds of things, the Bulls are budging on the presented price tag from Mirotic’s camp. The details on how much Mirotic wants are foggy at best, but as long as this situation has run now, it’s fair to think that he’s asking for more than the Bulls want to pay him.
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Bulls general manager Gar Forman touts the Bulls’ “flexibility” for the summer of 2018 like a newborn child. It’s likely that Robin Lopez and Dwyane Wade will be off their books by that point, which means they’ll have a rookie extension situation on their hands with LaVine and not much else (other than Mirotic if he accepts the QO for this season). That means cap space and much more than many other teams will have.
A rather semi-comical side note to all of this is that the Bulls could punt on a former European phenom for another (and technically two).
If the Bulls don’t come to any terms with Mirotic before the season, he accepts the qualifying offer and then bolts elsewhere next summer for example, the Bulls will likely have a high draft pick to take Real Madrid point forward Luka Doncic.
Before coming to the States, Mirotic was one of the most high-profiled prospects coming out of Europe while playing for Real Madrid and the Bulls acquired him in a draft night trade back in 2011; the same draft that saw them take Jimmy Butler at No. 30 overall.
It’s not crazy to think that Mirotic is an odd man out at some point. The Bulls have two young players in Bobby Portis and Lauri Markkanen that could fill Mirotic’s role at the 4 (and sometimes the 5).
Next: 5 goals for Lauri Markkanen to accomplish in his rookie campaign
A deal will likely be done at some point, but we’ve been thinking and saying that for basically two months now. This whole situation has been more bizarre than a three-hour game of Clue.