Nikola Mirotic will be sidelined until after the all-star break, the Chicago Bulls announced on Wednesday. The Bulls’ forward underwent an emergency appendectomy after suffering from acute appendicitis. He is expected to return after the all-star break.
The Bulls, who had a bevy of big-men available just a few weeks ago, have now cleared their front court logjam with two injuries. In addition to Mirotic’s absence, the Bulls are still without Joakim Noah who will not play again this season. This means that they will be counting on Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson for the bulk of the minutes at those positions, while rookie Bobby Portis will continue to get more and more playing time. Portis has been playing incredibly well and an addition to his playing time is great for his development.
The sudden injuries to Chicago’s front court seems to have also resulted in the Bulls holding tight on possible trade scenarios:
As for Pau Gasol … latest signals out of Chicago are that the Bulls want to RE-SIGN the free agent-to-be. As opposed to trading him
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) January 27, 2016
Meanwhile, the NBA will have to find a replacement for Mirotic who was slated to play for the World team in the Rising Stars Challenge.
