Chicago Bulls: 3 overseas players to consider signing in free agency

2) Chicago Bulls overseas free agent targets: Nikola Mirotic

It would be really interesting to see what a reunion with the former Bulls stretch forward and the sizable 6-foot-10 and 250 pound Montenegro native Nikola Mirotic would be like. Mirotic was the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft of the Houston Rockets. He was dished around on the trade market a few times on draft night 2011 before the Minnesota Timberwolves finally made a deal to send him to the Bulls.

That trade that sent Mirotic to the Bulls on June 23, 2011, saw Chicago send the likes of the infamous cash considerations along with point guard Norris Cole and shooting guard Malcolm Lee.

The Bulls got a lot of valuable contributions out of Mirotic in the mid-2010’s. He played in nearly 300 career regular season games with the Bulls over the course of four years, and was selected to one of the 2014-15 NBA All-Rookie Teams. Mirotic also had brief stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans before going back to Europe and playing with FC Barcelona last season.

He averaged 12.3 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks, in his NBA career in the regular season. And Mirotic shot 42.3 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.8 percent from the free-throw line.

In his one season since leaving the NBA to play overseas with FC Barcelona, Mirotic averaged 18.9 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.5 blocks. It feels like Mirotic still has a lot left in the tank and a return back to the NBA would be interesting, especially with the Bulls especially given how things went in that scuffle in practice between him and Bobby Portis a few years back.