Nikola Mirotic is one of Europe’s best big men, a star at Real Madrid that Bulls fans have been drooling over from a distance.
Next year they will see what he’s got in person.
As expected he is coming over next season and the Bulls have reached a deal with him, first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.Nikola Mirotic – considered the best player in European basketball – has reached agreement on a three-year, $17 million contract with the Chicago Bulls, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Mirotic, a 6-foot-10 forward, was the Spanish League MVP in the 2013 season and brings a well-regarded offensive game to Chicago.
Mirotic himself confirmed it.
Mirotic joins an impressive front line — Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol will start, now they can bring Taj Gibson and Mirotic off the bench.
DraftExpress has a nice scouting report up. Mirotic is a 6’10” power forward who is a pure shooter — he shot 46 percent from three last season and is a fantastic pick-and-pop partner. He moves well for a big man, although coming to the NBA will have him going against the kind of athletes he’s not used to seeing and that will be an adjustment. He can score in a variety of ways and he’s a solid defender. The question isn’t the skill set, just how he adjusts to the NBA game and athleticism (ask Tiago Splitter, another star in Europe, how that takes a little time). Having Gasol there to talk to in Chicago will help that adjustment.
That said, this is a quality signing for the Bulls at a fair price — and he steps right onto one of the best teams in the East and into an impressive front line rotation.