Forget all the fuss over Bulls backup center Omer Asik. The tall European piquing my curiosity most over his potential impact on the team's future is Nikola Mirotic, the 21-year-old Real Madrid power forward with a shot softer than a Spanish "j." "Nikola can shoot from anywhere he wants,'' Real Madrid assistant coach Hugo Lopez Munoz said in a phone interview. "We know that he's there, and if he's open, he's going to make the bucket. Absolutely that is his strength, though he does more things.'' He needs to add muscle to his 6-foot-10, 210-pound body. He occasionally drifts more defensively than Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau ever would tolerate, according to Lopez Munoz. He still can add inside moves to complement his 40 percent shooting outside the 3-point arc. "But he is coachable and absolutely one of the best players in our league,'' Lopez Munoz said of Mirotic, signed out of Montenegro when he was 15. "He's a rising star here.'' Inside the Berto Center, the Bulls say the same thing. Mirotic's contract with Real Madrid runs through 2015 with a buyout of about $2.5 million. The earliest Mirotic would leave Spain for the Bulls appears to be before the 2013-14 season, but many projections have 2014-15 circled on Bulls general manager Gar Forman's calendar. With so much roster uncertainty in the wake of Derrick Rose's injury, sooner is better for the Bulls to start determining whether they have the next Toni Kukoc or Dirk Nowitzki. In his first comments to a Chicago newspaper since the Bulls traded for the rights to the 2011 first-round draft pick, Mirotic committed only to taking the prudent, patient path to a city he has yet to visit. "I can't tell you right now when, but for sure I want to be totally ready when I take that step,'' Mirotic told the Tribune. "Currently I have a contract with Real Madrid and personal and team goals that I'd like to achieve. I want to improve as a player, and to get this goal (of playing for the Bulls), it's not advisable to go fast.'' Read more; http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...otic-bulls-chicago--20120707,0,4733857.column
Mirotic is a terrific prospect...but at this point he's a prospect. When the Bulls drafted Mirotic, many experts I read said that, if Mirotic had been immediately available, he'd have been a lottery pick. Everything Mirotic has done since then has only upped his value. If he continues his progress, by the time he is able to come over, it's likely that he'll be the equivalent of a top-5 pick, but more NBA-ready than most. He could be GarPax's Toni Kukoc.
