Mirotic out 3 weeks with appendicitis
The rotation decisions keep getting easier for Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg.
The Chicago Bulls left Wednesday for Los Angeles and the start of their seven-game, 12-day "ice show" road trip, but they had to leave someone behind.
Forward Nikola Mirotic suffered acute appendicitis Wednesday and had surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He won't make the trip and is not expected back until after the all-star break.
The Bulls' first game following the break is Feb. 18 in Cleveland.
Mirotic has struggled with consistency all season but is coming off a pretty good two-game stretch where he scored 15 points in Monday's loss to Miami and 17 on Saturday at Cleveland. He shot 55 percent from the field in those two games.
Overall, Mirotic ranks fourth on the team in both points (10.6) and rebounds (5.9).
With Joakim Noah already out, most likely for the season due to surgery on his left shoulder, rookie Bobby Portis is now the first big man off the bench, behind starters Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson.
If the Bulls need anyone else, they'll have to turn to rarely used Cameron Bairstow or rookie Cristiano Felicio.
Hoiberg tried to be optimistic about the upcoming road trip. It could be a chance for the Bulls to pull together as a more cohesive team, and the Western Conference isn't as good as it has been in recent years.
The long trip begins Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Then the Bulls will linger for three days in L.A. before facing the Clippers in a nationally televised game Sunday afternoon.
"We're all we've got. It's an opportunity for our guys to bond on the road," Hoiberg said after Tuesday's practice. "We've got two off-days in L.A. We'll have two good days to practice."
The Bulls spent much of Tuesday's practice scrimmaging with an emphasis on moving the ball from side to side.
"I told them I'm sick of seeing it on the sideline, sick of talking about him in film sessions," Hoiberg said.
Ball movement is one issue plaguing the Bulls, but another major problem right now is lack of help from the supporting cast. Losing Mirotic doesn't make things any easier.
The Bulls' statistics during the month of January tell the story. The big three of Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and Gasol is playing well, for the most part.
Since Christmas, Rose has averaged 18.4 points while shooting 45.9 percent from the field. Butler is the NBA's fifth-leading scorer in January at 24.9 points.
Looking deeper at the January stats, Doug McDermott is averaging 5.6 points, Tony Snell 5.4 points and Aaron Brooks 5.1 points. All three are shooting below 40 percent from the field this month.
McDermott has the offensive skills to be a valuable player. He barely played last season as a rookie, so maybe it's just a matter of time before everything clicks. At least McDermott is the Bulls' best 3-point shooter at 42.7 percent.
Snell used to be an effective 3-point shooter but has slid all the way down to 23.7 percent this month, including a damaging 0-for-4 in Monday's loss to Miami.
Every once in awhile, Snell looks like a confident scorer who can knock down the 3 and score on the move, but it hasn't happened nearly enough to consider his season a success.
When Mike Dunleavy is back on the floor, Snell probably will disappear from the rotation.
When the season began, Mirotic, McDermott and Snell all were potential difference-makers. Now 44 games into the season, their consistent playing time should be producing consistent results, but it's not happening.
The Bulls will be in desperate need for help from the younger players on this trip.
Sidelined Rising Star:
Before news of his surgery broke, Nikola Mirotic was chosen to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge during all-star weekend in Toronto. Now it appears he won't be available to play.
This game used to pit rookies vs. sophomores. Now it's USA vs. the World with a mix of first- and second-year players.
Joining Mirotic on the world team are New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins, Denver's Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic, Houston's Clint Capela, Orlando's Mario Hezonja, Dallas' Dwight Powell, Brooklyn's Bojan Bogdanovich and Utah's Raul Neto.
The United States team has two Chicago natives - Milwaukee's Jabari Parker and Philadelphia's Jahlil Okafor. The squad also includes Zach LaVine and Karl Anthony Towns of Minnesota, Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell from the Lakers, Philadelphia's Nerlens Noel, Orlando's Efrid Payton, Boston's Marcus Smart and Utah's Rodney Hood.
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