NBA Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Mirotic Drawing High Praise

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By @Kristen_Fazio

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Nikola Mirotic has only been with his new Chicago Bulls teammates for a few days, but he is already drawing rave reviews and high praise, particularly from head coach Tom Thibodeau.

For Thibodeau to be impressed with a rookie says a lot about Mirotic’s work ethic and continued development since the Bulls first drafted him three years ago. The greatest dimension Mirotic adds to the Bulls is that he is a true stretch four, an aspect to the offense they have been missing for quite some time.

Coming into training camp, Mirotic was one of the more unknowns. Nobody knew how quickly he was going to be able to adjust or just how good he would be. It is certainly still the infancy stages of his time with the Bulls, no doubt, but to catch the eye of everyone so early in camp has to excite the Bulls organization.

Thibodeau also pointed out how polished he is for a 23-year-old. He knows when to shoot, when to pass and not force something that isn’t there. Joakim Noah added that he is a complete player who can block shots, run the floor and isn’t just a shooter, while Derrick Rose was most impressed by his ability to put the ball on the floor, drive to the basket and avoid the charge.

Mirotic is committed to getting better every day and knows he must improve upon his defense if he wants to see significant time on the floor. It will be an uphill battle for Mirotic to crack the rotation as Thibodeau noted championship teams don’t use two rookies in a rotation, but if Mirotic continues to impress it will be awfully tough to keep him off the floor.

His biggest adjustment will come off the court where he, along with his wife and four-month old son, is trying to adapt to a new country, language and lifestyle. Pau Gasol and Toni Kukoc are expected to help Mirotic with that aspect of being an NBA player.

Mirotic may be the NBA’s best kept secret, and Noah even called him the Bulls’ “secret weapon”. But if he continues to learn and develop, hopefully he won’t be a secret for much longer.

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