NIkola Mirotic (Chicago Bulls)

Nikola Mirotic s a Montenegrin-Spanish professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) tall power forward is a two-time All-Euroleague Second Team member and previously played for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB. Growing up in Europe, football was Mirotić's true passion. As he got older, his family realized his height could be a lot more useful for another sport. At the age of 13, his grandfather introduced him to the sport of basketball. Mirotić spent his childhood in Montenegro and started playing basketball with the Joker School in Podgorica. At the age of 14, he signed a junior contract with Real Madrid in the summer of 2005. After playing for the Real Madrid juniors from 2006 to 2008, Mirotić signed with the Real Madrid senior team of the Liga ACB in 2008. During the 2010–11 Euroleague season, he emerged as one of his team's most valuable players to win the Euroleague Rising Star award. In April 2011, he signed a five-year contract extension with Real Madrid. With Real Madrid, he won the Spanish King's Cup and the Spanish Supercup in 2012. Mirotić with Real Madrid in 2013 On June 23, 2011, Mirotić was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and then traded once again to the Chicago Bulls on draft night. In the 2012–13 Euroleague season, he finished second in the Euroleague Rising Star voting to Kostas Papanikolaou, and he was named to the All-Euroleague Second Team. In May 2014, he was named to the All-Euroleague Second Team, for the second consecutive season. In a total of 97 games for Real Madrid, Mirotić averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game On July 18, 2014, Mirotić signed with the Chicago Bulls to a reported three-year, $16.6 million contract. In addition, Mirotić was required to pay $3 million to Real Madrid for his contract buyout. On December 19, 2014, Mirotić scored a then career-high 27 points, as he converted all six of his three-pointers, in a 103–97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. On January 5, 2015, he was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in December. In the NBA's All-Star Weekend, Mirotić played for World Team in the Rising Stars Challenge. He scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in the World's 121–112 win over Team USA. On March 1, he scored a career-high 29 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With injuries impacting teammates during the month of March, Mirotić was expected to fill a larger role for his team. He averaged 20.8 points and 7.6 rebounds while playing 30.8 minutes per game. In his rookie season, Mirotić averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 82 games, giving him the recognition as a candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award. Mirotić finished second in Rookie of the Year voting with 335 votes behind Andrew Wiggins who received 604 votes. He played his first post-season game in the NBA on April 18, 2015 in Game 1 of the Bulls' first-round series match-up against the Milwaukee Bucks. In 13 minutes off the bench, he recorded 5 points and 5 rebounds. With the Bulls' 2015 off-season head coaching change, replacing Tom Thibodeau with Fred Hoiberg, came a starting role for Mirotić ahead of All-Star center Joakim Noah. Mirotić subsequently scored a team-high 19 points in the season opening win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He started in all 18 games to begin the season, coming off the bench for the first time on December 9 against the Boston Celtics, scoring 10 points in 22 minutes of action. He continued coming off the bench following December 9, earning himself a back-up role to Taj Gibson. His next start came on December 21 against the Brooklyn Nets, as he started at small forward in place of Tony Snell. On January 1, he recorded 17 points and a career-high seven assists in a 108–81 win over the New York Knicks. On January 27, he was diagnosed with an acute appendicitis and was subsequently ruled out until after the All-Star break. He returned to action on March 5 against the Houston Rockets after missing 16 games. On March 23, he scored a career-high 35 points in a loss to the New York Knicks