Bobby Portis Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bulls Rumors: Portis, Grant, Lopez, Markkanen

November 6th, 2017 at 10:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bobby Portis will jump into the Bulls’ rotation when his eight-game suspension ends on Tuesday, according to Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Portis, who was punished for punching and injuring teammate Nikola Mirotic during a scrimmage scuffle, will back up rookie Lauri Markkanen at power forward. “We do plan on Bobby being the backup four,” coach Fred Hoiberg told Smith and other media members. “We’ll see how the flow of the game is going and see if we can slide him down to the five and allow he and Lauri to play together for a stretch.” Hoiberg said the second unit needs the boost that Portis can provide. “Every time he steps on the floor and we need a jolt of energy, he can provide that for us,” he said. “He needs to continue to do those little things that have made him successful when he’s been on the floor his first couple years in the league.”

In other items concerning the Bulls:

Jerian Grant is looking more comfortable at point guard and has emerged as a true competitor to Kris Dunn for the starting job, as Smith examines in a separate piece. Grant posted a near triple-double against the Pelicans on Saturday with 13 points, eight rebounds and nine rebounds while Dunn played only 17 minutes and shot 2-for-9 from the field. “I was able to push the ball and find my teammates,” Grant told Smith and other reporters. “If I continue to do that we can win some games and be in a game with a team like that.”
Center Robin Lopez believes the team’s younger players shouldn’t simply be handed playing time, as he expressed to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s something to be said for earning minutes,’’ Lopez said. “It kind of builds character. It’s just not going to work out perfectly all the time, but I’m a proponent of that.’’
Markkanen ranks second only to the Sixers’ Ben Simmons as a Rookie of the Year candidate, according to Mark Schanowski of NBC Sports Chicago.

Central Notes: Portis, Love, Pistons

November 5th, 2017 at 8:58pm CST by Austin Kent

Having served his team-mandated eight-game suspension, Bulls forward Bobby Portis will make his return to action on Tuesday night. As Nick Friedell of ESPN writes, however, it’s not yet clear how he’ll fit into the club’s rotation.

“I think he’s handled it as well as he could have,” Bulls center Robin Lopez said of Portis. “I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen going forward with rotations or anything, but I know he’s mentally prepared for it, and we’re excited to have him back.”

Portis came on strong for the Bulls toward the end of last season but the franchise is in a much different spot now than they were just a few months ago. There’s no guarantee that the big man’s spot on the depth chart will look the same in 2017/18.

Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen has thrived at the four, averaging 16.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in his first campaign.

There’s more from the Central Division:

After exiting Sunday’s afternoon tilt with the Hawks, Cavaliers forward Kevin Love was sent to the hospital as a precautionary measure because of an illness, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes. Details are not yet known.
After a busy offseason, the Pistons are off to their best start since 2008/09. It’s not because of recently acquired starter Avery Bradley alone, however. “I’ve said this several times, I think [Bradley] has changed the demeanor of our team,” head coach Stan Van Gundy told the media, Ansar Khan of MLive among them. “I would give him a good part of the credit, but then I think Stanley Johnson being in the starting lineup has helped with that. But I don’t want to take away from the other guys – Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond, some of those other guys have made a more concerted effort talking.”
As of Saturday evening, the Cavaliers had allowed a league-worst 111.9 points per 100 possessions. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes that the teams offensive woes could be having an impact on their performance on the other side of the ball. “When we’re not making shots and not scoring I think it becomes mental,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “That’s for a lot of teams. If you’re not scoring, your defense drops. So, I think a lot of guys are frustrated that we’re not making shots and we’re not scoring.“

Central Notes: Portis, R. Jackson, Vaughn, Turner

November 4th, 2017 at 8:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls forward Bobby Portis will be eligible to return from his eight-game suspension on Tuesday, but there’s no guarantee he’ll get playing time right away, tweets Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago. Coach Fred Hoiberg responded, “We’ll see,” when asked whether he plans to use Portis in that game.

Portis was punished for injuring teammate Nikola Mirotic in an altercation during a scrimmage last month. Mirotic suffered a concussion and fractured two facial bones, and is expected to be out until mid-November. Hoiberg told reporters today that Mirotic remains in good spirits and has progressed to doing pool work, relays Nick Friedell on ESPN Now.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Two front office sources from the Pistons confirmed to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press that the organization has no plans to trade Reggie Jackson for Eric Bledsoe. One source said there was no substance to the rumored deal, while another confirmed communication between the Pistons and Suns but indicated a trade is unlikely.
Bucks guard Rashad Vaughn wasn’t surprised that the team elected not to pick up his option for next season, relays Gery Woelfel of WoelfelsPressbox. Considered a gamble when Milwaukee made him the 17th pick in the 2015 draft, Vaughn played 70 games as a rookie, but slipped to 41 last season. He is still just 21 and hopes for a long NBA future, although as he heads into unrestricted free agency following this season, he knows it probably won’t be with the Bucks. “It’s a business,’’ Vaughn said. “You just have to respect their decision and move on. I’m not going to let this stop me. I’m going to keep striving. That’s all I can do.’’
Myles Turner saw his first action for the Pacers Friday since an opening-night concussion and is now ready to return to the starting lineup, according to Clifton Brown of The Indianapolis Star. Turner will be the starting center Sunday against the Knicks, with Domantas Sabonis returning to the bench. “It”ll take me a few games to get my rhythm back,” Turner said, “but being back out there is what’s important.” Coach Nate McMillan has been impressed by Sabonis’ play during Turner’s absence and plans to give him a steady dose of minutes off the bench.

Central Notes: Turner, LaVine, Antetokounmpo

November 3rd, 2017 at 5:31pm CST by Austin Kent

The Pacers will see Myles Turner return to action tonight, Nate McMillan told the media, including the team’s official Twitter account. Turner has missed seven games since suffering a concussion in the team’s season opening victory.

Turner, 21 years old, is the new cornerstone of the Pacers franchise now that Paul George is off with the Thunder. He will, however, be charged with the tough task of sliding into a lineup that has found success playing a faster style of basketball than what he saw over the course of his rookie and sophomore seasons.

Last year Turner averaged 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. If he can return to action alongside his new and familiar Pacers teammates without disrupting the 5-3 squad’s flow, Indiana could be even better than they’ve looked thus far. Turner will come off the bench in his debut.

There’s more from the Central Division:

After three years with Nike, Bulls guard Zach LaVine has agreed to a four-year, $35MM shoe deal with Adidas, Nick DePaula of ESPN says. The prolific slam dunk contest champion has been sidelined with a torn left ACL since last February.
It seems that Giannis Antetokounmpo is perfectly comfortable suiting up for a small market team like the Bucks. As Marc Stein of the New York Times writes in a feature dedicated toward the budding superstar, Antetokounmpo doesn’t particularly like flashy cities like L.A. or Miami.
The Bulls don’t have a set date for when Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis will meet for the first time following their fight, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.

Central Notes: Mirotic, Cavs, Rose, Tolliver

October 30th, 2017 at 6:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic will not have surgery on the facial fractures he suffered when teammate Bobby Portis punched him, team vice president of basketball operations John Paxson told George Ofman of WBBMNewsradio (Twitter link). Mirotic will have a light workout at the team’s practice facility on Tuesday, Ofman adds.

Mirotic was expected to miss 4-6 weeks in the aftermath of the altercation, but this development suggests a four-week absence is more likely. There has been speculation that the Bulls’ power forward would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to escape the tense situation but he cannot be traded until January 15.

In other news around the Central Division:

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue believes some of his players are too timid because of LeBron James‘ presence, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com relays. Lue expressed those feelings after an embarrassing loss to the Knicks on Sunday. “Guys have got to understand that LeBron, he’s a giving person, he’s a giving player,” Lue said. “You’ve got to come in and play your game and we’ll adjust. I think a lot of times we defer to LeBron or guys are scared to be aggressive because of that.” Vardon speculates that Lue was referring mainly to former Celtics forward Jae Crowder, who’s averaging 7.3 PPG on 6.6 shots per game.
Lue said that re-inserting Derrick Rose into the starting lineup was an easy one, as he expressed to Vardon and other media members. Rose scored 15 points on Sunday in his return from an ankle injury that cost him four games. “I thought those first two games we were really playing well, and especially defensively,” Lue said. “After that it’s been tough trying to maneuver guys in and out of the point guard position.”
Reserve power forward Anthony Tolliver has carved out a defensive role in the Pistons’ rotation, Rod Beard of the Detroit News notes. Though coach Stan Van Gundy has said publicly that second-year forward Henry Ellenson deserves steady playing time, Van Gundy has turned to Tolliver to guard the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin in recent games, Beard adds. Tolliver is in his second stint with the team after signing a one-year, $3.3MM free agent contract during the summer.

Central Notes: Collison, Cavaliers, Thompson

October 27th, 2017 at 8:01pm CST by Austin Kent

The Pacers have jumped out of the gates with one of the league’s fastest-paced and most potent offenses. Much of that is thanks to their newly acquired point guard, Darren Collison, Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star writes. The guard has taken a substantial leap forward since his last tenure with the franchise.

“I’m a much better player than I was in the past,” the Pacers guard said. “I know the game a little better. I’m more mature. I don’t think I’ve lost a step, but I’m not as fast as I used to be. But my basketball IQ is at higher level than it ever has been.”

In five games with the Pacers so far this season, Collison has averaged 15.6 points and 8.4 assists per game. Indiana, as a team, has averaged 114.0 points per game, the fourth-highest total in the NBA.

There’s more from the Central Division:

The Cavaliers are not in the mix to acquire Eric Bledsoe at this point in time, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes in a question-and-answer with readers. There are no Bledsoe trade scenarios that make sense for the squad so long as Isaiah Thomas returns healthy and Derrick Rose is accountable all season.
In his latest comments about the Nikola Mirotic–Bobby Portis kerfuffle, Bulls executive vice president John Paxson reiterated that they’re feeling out the best way of handling the scenario but noted that they’ll do what’s in the organization’s best interest. As K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes, that’s a reminder that both players technically remain under contract, giving the franchise final say in what happens.
The Cavaliers will start Tristan Thompson for the next little while, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com tweets. Head coach Tyronn Lue opted to slot the familiar face in at the five, bumping Jae Crowder out of his role as the starting small forward.

Bulls Exercise Options On Bobby Portis, Four Others

October 27th, 2017 at 4:26pm CST by Austin Kent

The Bulls have exercised options on all five of their eligible players, the team announced in a press release. That was the plan all along, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets.

Returning on third-year options in 2018/19 will be Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine while all of Jerian Grant, Cameron Payne and Bobby Portis will be back on fourth-year options.

While it makes sense for a rebuilding team to retain young players with promise, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago tweeted on October 18 that the club hadn’t, at that point, made a decision about Portis.

Portis infamously hospitalized Nikola Mirotic in a team practice on October 17 and several stories have emerged in the last few days about internal doubts that the two will ever be able to co-exist in a Bulls locker room again.

As far as asset management goes, however, it makes sense for the Bulls to pick up the options on all of the capable young players as doing so doesn’t preclude them from making any moves with Mirotic, of Portis for that matter, in the future.

The exercised options of Dunn and Valentine are obvious choices. Both players, highly regarded entering their rookie campaigns in 2016/17, have shown flashes of why they were so revered in college. The raw but malleable assets are exactly the type of building blocks that a team in Chicago’s current position ought to be collecting.

In contrast, Grant, the club’s starting point guard thus far in 2018/19, is the most heavily utilized player of the bunch. Grant has posted averages of 10.8 points and an impressive 7.3 assists per game in a full starter’s workload through four games. He may end up ceding time and opportunity to Dunn, who is expected to return in a reserve role soon, but has done a fine job establishing himself in his third season.

The decision to exercise Payne’s fourth-year option seems natural considering that the team marketed him as a potential point guard of the future last season.

As the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson noted in a separate tweet, there remains internal belief that Payne could have an impact on the rebuilding team if he’s able to maintain his health. Payne has played just 88 games throughout the first three years of his career.

What’s Next For Mirotic, Portis, Bulls?

October 27th, 2017 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

After trading Jimmy Butler, waiving Rajon Rondo, and buying out Dwyane Wade, the Bulls appeared set to lay low this season, embarking on a full-fledged rebuild with virtually no pressure to win games in 2017/18. However, the franchise, plagued by on-court and off-court drama in recent years, couldn’t even make it to opening night without creating headlines again.

In this case, it was Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic at the center of the latest story out of Chicago. A tense scrimmage led to shoving between the two power forwards, which escalated to Portis throwing a punch that landed Mirotic in the hospital — he sustained a concussion and facial fractures.

The altercation resulted in an eight-game suspension for Portis, and Mirotic is expected to miss upwards of six weeks while he recovers from his injuries. But the saga didn’t end there.

Unsurprisingly, despite a token apology from Portis, there’s still tension between the two players. A report on Friday indicated that Mirotic, who has the ability to veto trades, may be willing to approve a deal out of Chicago, with one source suggesting that the situation may result in a “me or him” ultimatum.

The latest breakdown on the situation from BlogABull.com does a good job laying out why Mirotic may not be thrilled by the idea of remaining in Chicago. The Bulls didn’t exactly come down hard on Portis for punching a teammate, letting him continue to practice with the club during his relatively light suspension.

Additionally, Mirotic had barely been discharged from the hospital when the Bulls’ front office and coaches began insisting there was plenty of blame to go around, suggesting that Mirotic was at fault for escalating the altercation that left him with multiple broken bones in his face. It’s possible that’s true — only a handful of people saw it happen, so the rest of us have to take their word for it. But it certainly sounds like the Bulls are pushing a narrative that avoids vilifying Portis, the player whose “work ethic and commitment” they clearly prefer.

Given the Bulls’ apparent preference for Portis – and Mirotic’s reported desire for a deal, as Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago details – a trade of Mirotic seems like the most obvious solution to fixing the situation. It’s not that easy, however. Because he signed a new contract with the Bulls this offseason, one that met certain criteria related to his Bird rights, Mirotic isn’t eligible to be moved until January 15.

Would the Bulls trade Portis? According to Goodwill, they’ve spoken to at least one team about a possible deal, and are expected to remain active on that front over the next few days. As we detailed on Wednesday, Portis’ fourth-year team option is one of the 2018/19 rookie scale options that has yet to be exercised. Facing an October 31 deadline, the Bulls will have to make a call on that option within the next few days, which could have an impact on the trade market for Portis (though that impact should be minimal, considering the option is worth a modest $2.5MM).

I get the sense that the Bulls aren’t all-in on finding a taker for Portis, but it’s not clear what the team’s plan is. For now, with Portis suspended and Mirotic still recovering, there’s no rush for resolution. Still, Portis will only be out for four more games and Mirotic could be back on the court before the end of November, so it’s not a situation the Bulls should want to drag out either.

After an offseason which saw the mindset of the Bulls’ front office shift from contending to rebuilding, Gar Forman and John Paxson are facing their first major challenge of the new era in Chicago. It will be fascinating to see how they handle it.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nikola Mirotic Could Waive Trade Veto

October 26th, 2017 at 6:34pm CST by Austin Kent

There have been indications that Bulls forwards Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis may not be able to co-exist when the former returns to the court following his injury, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. There is now a sense that Mirotic is becoming more open to a trade, with one source suggesting that the situation may be heading toward a “me or him” ultimatum.

Johnson notes that Mirotic, signed to a two-year $27MM contract with trade veto rights during the first season, would now consider waiving that veto if the Bulls were to find a trade partner. Per CBA rules, however, Mirotic can not be traded whatsoever until January 15.

As we wrote last week, a punch from Portis in one of the team’s final practices before the regular season began has rendered Mirotic sidelined for four to six weeks. The 26-year-old suffered a concussion and fractured facial bones as a result of the altercation.

When healthy and utilized heavily, Mirotic can be a solid NBA asset, so his trade value could be intriguing despite the lofty price point. In fact, were it not for the tension that could potentially loom between he and Portis, it could be assumed that Mirotic would slot in alongside players like Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen as possible core pieces for future.

Alas, one can’t blame Mirotic for at least being open to an opportunity elsewhere considering the substantial consequences of the incident.

Bulls Notes: Front Office, Wade, Mirotic, Portis

October 24th, 2017 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams

In an in-depth and well-researched piece for ESPN, Nick Friedell examines how the Bulls went from a title contender to one of the NBA’s worst teams within the last several years. Friedell’s report, which begins by revisiting Derrick Rose‘s first major injury back in 2012, provides plenty of interesting tidbits along the way, touching on the tension between Tom Thibodeau and the front office, Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah, Dwyane Wade and his young teammates, and Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic.

As Friedell details, there has no been no shortage of issues in Chicago in recent years, with even the most successful seasons during that stretch including a few sour notes. For instance, sources tell Friedell that executives John Paxson and Gar Forman felt like they didn’t get enough credit for the roster they built during the Thibodeau years.

Friedell’s whole piece is worth a read, but here are a couple more details from it, along with more Bulls notes:

When the Bulls landed Wade last summer, Forman conveyed the impression that the front office had been planning its pursuit of Wade for weeks. In reality though, according to Friedell, the Bulls were “shocked” that they had an opportunity to pry Wade away from the Heat, and altered their rebuilding plans when it became clear they could sign him.
Via Freidell, here’s what Paxson had to say about the perception that the Bulls could have done better than the Timberwolves’ package in a Butler trade: “Teams would call us all the time and probe about Jimmy and that type of thing. But no one ever made us any type of legitimate offer. In fact, most teams, when they would make an offer, it was somewhat insulting. So we always listened, which teams do, but it really came down to, could we start to rebuild with some quality young players? And hope that knowing what our future holds, it’s going to be painful at times. But if we get into these next few drafts at a fairly significant level, the hope is that pairing what draft picks we have going forward and the players that we got in this deal, we can get back sooner rather than later.”
In a separate article for ESPN, Friedell notes that the fight between Portis and Mirotic denied the Bulls the opportunity to push an optimistic and hopeful narrative about the team’s rebuild to open the season.
Although Portis privately and publicly apologized for punching Mirotic, there are growing concerns that the relationship between the two players may be much more difficult to repair, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. Mirotic hasn’t returned any of Portis’ calls or texts, says Cowley.