Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said that forward Nikola Mirotic has had his timetable set at 4-to-6 weeks as he recovers from facial fractures and a possible concussion.
According to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson, Paxson also stated the doctors felt surgery would be best but that the decision is in Mirotic's hands. If he opts for surgery, we would probably see him return closer to the back-end of that timetable. In the meantime, promising rookie Lauri Markkanen will start at power forward while Bobby Portis (suspended) re-enters the fold after he serves his time for cheapshotting his teammate in practice on Tuesday.
Our models project Mirotic for 1,109 points, 156 threes and 411 rebounds across 1,862 minutes the rest of the year for Chicago.
Source: K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune