NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls Ready To Make A Trade?

Nikola Mirotic's days with the Chicago Bulls appear to be numbered. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Mirotic's representatives haven't budged on his trade request and he is willing to waive his no-trade clause when he becomes eligible to be dealt on Jan. 15.

Without directly citing rumored teams to have shown interest in Mirotic, Crowley pointed out that the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs are playoff teams that "could use outside-shooting help."

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune pointed out on Dec. 29 that Mirotic might be an easy player to deal.

According to Johnson: "[The Bulls] can dangle Mirotic as an expiring contract if that team doesn’t want the option exercised, although Mirotic would have to agree to be traded to that team in that case. Or they can shop him as a productive player on a manageable two-year, $27 million deal, with the Bulls picking up the option before the trade. In that case, that team also would get Bird rights on Mirotic when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2019."

Mirotic, 26, who is a free agent at the end of the 2018-19 season, earns $12.5 million this season. The 6-foot-10 power forward has averaged 17.4 points per game over 17 games this season. He joined the team in 2014 and has career averages of 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds.

A Mirotic trade could coincide with the return of swingman Zach LaVine, who is expected to be available in the coming days after tearing his ACL in February. It is still unclear when exactly LaVine will return to the court.

"Ideally, I wish I could play tomorrow," LaVine said Thursday. "In a perfect world, I could play right now but it's not a perfect world. I'm just going to wait and see, see how my body feels. Go through these meetings and we're going to find a date soon."

The Bulls (14-26) have the third worst record in the Eastern Conference.