Nikola Mirotic is too good to still be on the Bulls
This was looking bad: Nikola Mirotic came off the bench and took over a game like a starter, and there were the rebuilding Bulls, leading the reigning world champion Warriors in large part because Mirotic was doing everything, like he was a Warrior or something.
See? I told you it was bad.
Fortunately, these Bulls who don’t know enough to lose were put back on the right track by a Warriors team that ripped off a 19-0 run in the third quarter in case there were any questions.
No thanks to Mirotic, though. No, none at all. The Bulls forward would need just 27 minutes to pour in a team-high 24 points. He also led the Bulls with four three-pointers and stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. You know what that means, don’t you?
It means Mirotic is still a Bull.
Why is Mirotic still a Bull?
Mirotic should not still be a Bull.
He’s probably the best trade piece in the league right now. He’s exactly the player the Bulls should trade so they get worse now in order to have the chance later to draft someone who might change the franchise.
The Bulls could’ve traded Bobby Portis’ sparring partner starting Monday, and should’ve traded him Monday while he still has big value, before be starts missing shots, or worse, before he suffers an injury.
You know, it would be just like these Bulls management wonks to overplay their hand for Mirotic, to ask for too much, then not get it, and end up keeping him and he helps the Bulls reach the playoffs in a tank season.
I mean, just look: The Bulls are only six games from the last playoff spot held by the Pistons and still a distant 2½ games from tying the Hawks and Magic for the desired last spot in the Eastern Conference. That’s why the Bulls need to trade Mirotic to the Pistons now. It’s a two-fer – make the last playoff seed better and of course make the Bulls worse.
Because look, people, right now it’s not totally nuts to worry about a dreaded playoff berth that didn’t seem to be an issue when they started 3-20. But since then, chaos. They’ve ridden a lot of Mirotic to a current 14-8 run that has hurt their lottery chances, and now that Zach LaVine is about to be let off the leash, the Bulls are capable of piling up more painful wins. Stop it. Stop it right now.
I’m not talking to the players. I’m not blaming the players for playing hard and trying to win and executing Fred Hoiberg’s entertaining style of ball. No, I’m blaming John Paxsonand Gar Forman for letting this continue. Make this go away. This is not how a team should run a rebuild in the year of a top-heavy draft that rewards stink.
But then, it would be fitting that the Bulls management wonks finally pick a lane, convince ownership to tank so they could rebuild, and end up making the playoffs.
And then, you watch, they’d trade Mirotic in the offseason when his value is less, and that’s when we find out that Cam Payne has a brother.
