Nikola Mirotic's emergency appendectomy couldn't have come at a worse time for the Chicago Bulls. Thankfully, Mirotic is expected a full recovery and will be back after the All-Star break. But what does that mean for the Bulls in the mean time?
Well for starters, the Bulls have eight games remaining before the break and seven of them are against Western Conference teams on the road. This Bulls team hasn't shown the capability of beating teams it's expected to, meaning what looked like a fairly easy road trip could easily turn into a disaster on their record, and that was before Mirotic's injury.
Some negative effects of his injury will be more reliance on the tested veterans in Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson. The two are already logging major minutes because of Joakim Noah's separated shoulder, which won't be good for what management had planned for Gasol, especially. Pau Gasol seemed to have run out of gas during the collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers in last years playoffs, which is possibly the reason he suffered a hamstring injury. Maybe some Bulls fans who were hard on Noah are wishing he was playing now.
Along with Gibson and Gasol logging more minutes, the same will be expected for Tony Snell and Doug McDermott. Sadly, the two are failing to live up to their preseason expectations and are holding this Bulls team back from being serious contenders in the East. The both of them have problems making open shots. However, McDermott should be getting more shot opportunities as he hasn't received that many.
With Tony Snell, he plays slightly above average defense but he fails to knock down wide open shot attempts. Snell also isn't aggressive enough going to the rim when he has all the tools and athletic ability to due so. He's shown flashes but maybe now with Mirotic out of the picture, one or both of them can dictate who should receive more playing time.
Per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, Fred Hoiberg will make some lineup adjustments, including playing McDermott and Jimmy Butler at the four. So it looks as if the Bulls will go really small at times which will be tough against some of the teams they are playing before the break. Games against the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers and Atlanta Hawks will be bothersome because of their strong front courts.
Will he be freed? Rookie Bobby Portis was presumed to be freed after his stellar play in late December, but ever since Noah came back his minutes have been inconsistent and he's had a much shorter leash. His defense has been far from perfect, as he's looked lost at times with his rotations. There is no question now if he will be given more of an opportunity because the minutes are there to be had. Management has to be praying he comes through with his minutes, as they, and the rest of Bulls fans, do not need another injury to happen to this front court.
It looks like the Bulls are expecting two faces back after the All-Star break, with Mike Dunleavy joining the fold, and at a good time too. The Bulls first game after the break is against Cleveland and they could sure use another game like they got out of Mirotic just last week. For now, the Bulls have to gut it out, rebound well as a team, and get better performances from the young pieces of this team in order to stay afloat atop the Eastern Conference.