Bulls F Nikola Mirotic: how's he coming along?

Nikola Mirotic signed a deal worth $17 million over three years. And the Chicago Bulls paid more than $3 million for his buyout. So how has the stretch four fit into the system of Coach Tom Thibodeau? Mirotic and company face the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day at the UC. So the nation gets a chance to scope him out.

Merry Christmas Chicago Bulls and Nikola Mirotic fans! You’ll notice the United Center Christmas tree picture below.

ESPN NBA analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Hubie Brown discussed key NBA on Christmas Day storylines on a media conference call. I asked Brown:

After this year, do you see the window for a championship closing? How long do you think the Bulls really have to win it all?

“You’ve been extremely, extremely lucky in picking up Gasol, Brooks and Mirotic. These three guys are going to be major, major contributors the rest of the way and at playoff time. You get better shot blocking,” Mirotic said.

“You get instant play off the dribble with Brooks and a kid who can really score all three areas, and then Mirotic, I think has opened the eyes of many people at 6’10”. He might be still learning the rotations defensively, which we know Brooks and Gasol are also doing. But this young guy at 6’10” has the athletic ability, the three point game, the mid-range game, and then the trailer on the break to be exceptional.”

“So as far as saying they’re on the downside, I don’t think that.”

Mirotic came up again later on the conference call.

Q. You touched on the Chicago Bulls a little earlier, but specifically Nikola Mirotic in that game that you were calling against the Trail Blazers. He had himself a pretty nice ballgame. With your experience coaching younger guys and having dealt with younger guys, with Mirotic, he’s 23, but he also played overseas for a while. Do you think his ability to have success early on here is because of his age or the professional experience he’s had previously? What’s allowed him to transition so easily?

BROWN: I think when you play for Chicago, you’re not going to stay on the floor if you don’t defend, okay? So always put that first with these young rookies and guys coming to the team. Because the way that Tibs runs that defense, you can’t have a weak link. And this young guy is coming and trying to learn all of the offensive efficiencies, and he’s maxing out right there. He’s proving that he can in the continuities, because of his athleticism, get to all of the spots with the continuity, he can shoot the three. He can get into the paint. He can foul. He can make the foul shots. Then what I liked that night against Portland was he could handle the middle on the break a number of times where the ball went out to the wing and he was in the middle.

Then he made the right decisions. Then also as the trailer on the break, he is so dangerous because he can shoot the three on the break. So when you have a four on three or three on two, he can be a trailer coming behind that and still be effective. But his minutes. I noticed he had 28 again the other night. So he’s doing it, especially if they stay with an eight or nine man rotation. Losing McDermott naturally was big, but he was ahead of McDermott.

So to me, his previous experience overseas has given him the confidence to shoot early at this time. And Tibs told us the other night, the only thing they’re concerned about is he gets to the rotations and he gets to them quicker. And that will come only with experience and most of all playing time in critical situations. Because defending with the second unit is different when you move to the first unit and you’re out there with Noah and Gasol, and you might be at that small forward position. So your assignments change whether you’re a small forward or a power forward in their chemistry defensively.

Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2

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