Tensions among the Chicago Bulls, or at least two of them, boiled over in practice last week when Bobby Portis punched fellow forward Nikola Mirotic, giving him a concussion and two broken bones in his face that will sideline him for four to six weeks.
And now, according to two reports, Mirotic wants out of Chicago.
“Mirotic prefers a trade out of Chicago — which won’t be available to the Bulls until mid-January at the earliest because he was a free agent this summer — and is willing to waive his no-trade clause to do so,” Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago reports, with Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times saying Mirotic’s camp has taken a “me or him” stance.
Mirotic, a three-year NBA veteran who was thought to be one of the centerpieces of the team’s rebuilding process, signed a two-year deal with the Bulls this summer. Chicago has a team option for the 2018-19 season on Portis’s contract and must decide whether to exercise it by Tuesday. Goodwill says the Bulls have talked to at least one team about a possible Portis trade and that any team that deals for him probably would like to make the decision on his team option themselves. In other words, if Portis is dealt, it’s going to happen in the next couple of days.
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Bulls Coach Fred Hoiberg could have a tough choice to make whenever Mirotic returns, a decision that would be made easier with a trade. Mirotic’s absence opened the door for rookie Lauri Markkanen, who has started in his place and played well, averaging 15.8 points and 10 rebounds.
Portis, who is practicing with the team during his suspension and can return to game action Nov. 7, has tried to call and text Mirotic to hash things out but has yet to hear back. Since the incident, Mirotic has spoken to few of his fellow team members, apart from Hoiberg and Robin Lopez, Goodwill reports.
‘‘I try to think positively and hope things work out,’’ guard Justin Holiday told Cowley. ‘‘But there are a whole bunch of different scenarios that can come from this. Again, we’re going to try and make sure that we support both of them and [that] ... it’s best for both of them and best for this team.”
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