Nikola Mirotic was very close to becoming a member of the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this week, but after that deal fell through he joined the team for its road trip starting in Portland on Wednesday. While he’s with the Bulls on their trip, they won’t be risking any injury to their trade asset ahead of the deadline.
A day after a deal with the Pelicans appears to have fallen apart, Mirotic looks to be out of the lineup altogether for Chicago. There was a bit of a stir at Bulls practice on Tuesday when Mirotic was chatting with Bulls coaches while trade rumors swirled. But the team then announced as the deal with New Orleans fell apart that he would travel with the club and, in theory, play if a deal had not been reached.
Now that it seems Chicago is back to the negotiating process in deals again, they’re playing it safe and taking Mirotic out of action until he officially gets moved.
https://twitter.com/KCJHoop/status/958830166171566080
Later, another source confirmed that Mirotic was headed for the DNP list.
While the Bulls negotiate a deal for Nikola Mirotic, he will not play, according to a source with knowledge
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) January 31, 2018
That would seem to end his tenure with the Bulls, which you can’t really say was boring, particularly this season as he got into a fight with Bobby Portis, then put together a pretty impressive season with the club that got trade rumors going. Those rumors have helped him play well, according to Mirotic, but now it seems he’ll have to wait to see the floor until he has a new uniform.
