The Chicago Bulls traded veteran forward Nikola Mirotic to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, finally completing a move that was rumored earlier in the week.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported the news. Shams Charania of The Vertical reported that the Pelicans will send back Omer Asik, Tony Allen and a first-round pick. Wojnarowski added Jameer Nelson is also headed to Chicago.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reported the Bulls will also send a second-round draft pick and will receive a first-round pick from the Pelicans with the option to swap second-round selections in a future draft. Johnson also said Allen and Nelson will be waived by the Bulls.
Quincy Pondexter will also be released by the Bulls in order to create roster space to complete the trade, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Mirotic's departure from the Windy City is a long time coming.
It looked like the 26-year-old was on the move to New Orleans on Tuesday before Wojnarowski reported a the trade fell through when the Pelicans declined to guarantee Mirotic's option for next year.
The Pelicans will pick now up that option to complete the deal, per Wojnarowski.
Despite that bump in the road, but Bulls were clearly going to be aggressive about shopping Mirotic before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. He can be a free agent in the offseason, and there's almost no chance Chicago would've exercised his club option.
Following a fight between Mirotic and Bobby Portis last October, the Bulls clearly had to choose between keeping Mirotic or Portis beyond this year. The duo did a great job of mending fences on the court, but friction still bubbled beneath the surface.
Keeping Portis over Mirotic makes sense for the rebuilding Bulls. Portis is four years younger and under contract for one more season before becoming a restricted free agent in 2019.
Even with the off-court drama hanging around him for most of the season, Mirotic is having the best year of his NBA career. He's averaging 16.8 points and 6.4 rebounds and shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
According to NBA.com, the Bulls have had a plus-4.3 net rating with Mirotic on the floor. The team's net rating has fallen to minus-9.9 when he goes to the bench.
Even if Mirotic's three-point shooting slips closer to his career average (36.1 percent), he's still a solid stretch 4 who can consistently grab five or six rebounds per night.
While Mirotic has never been a more efficient scorer, his defense remains an issue. According to ESPN.com, he's 261st in the league in defensive real plus-minus (minus-0.14). His 106.3 defensive rating is a career worst as well, per NBA.com.
Given how much three-point shooting is a part of his offensive game, a slight drop in his shooting percentage could have an outsized impact on his contributions at that end of the floor, too. Three-pointers have accounted for 55.4 percent of Mirotic's field-goal attempts since he entered the NBA in 2014, according to Basketball Reference.
Acquiring Mirotic is likely a reaction to DeMarcus Cousins being lost for season as the result of a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Pelicans had to strengthen somehow, and Mirotic was an easy trade target because of his availability.
Mirotic is a clear offensive upgrade over Dante Cunningham at power forward, and he should help New Orleans in its quest to reach the postseason for the first time since 2015.
This trade is unlikely to help the Pelicans much in the long term, though. Mirotic isn't a star-level talent, and New Orleans had to give up a valuable asset in order to entice the Bulls to take on Asik's contract.
Since selecting Anthony Davis first overall in 2012, the Pelicans have traded away first-round picks in 2014, 2015 and 2017. New Orleans also dealt its only two first-round selections (Nerlens Noel in 2013 and Buddy Hield in 2016) since then.
That kind of short-term thinking has helped saddle the Pelicans with bad contracts and a thin supporting cast behind Davis. This trade is more than defensible from New Orleans' perspective but won't do much to calm the speculation about Davis' future.
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