Bulls' Young Star Shining Brightest in Rookie Class

It was the draft class that was supposed to rival that of 2003 and 1984. Headlined by young phenoms such as Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Julius Randle, this year's draft was by far the strongest in recent years. Everything went as planned on draft night, with Wiggins and Parker going first and second overall and many teams looking toward the future with their more-than-capable rookies. Yet here we are about thirty games into this young season and the rookie class is dealing with the worst possible luck. Injuries have derailed and/or hindered the seasons of multiple rookies which has led to justifiable disappointment in how this class has turned out so far. Parker, Randle, and Joel Embiid have all lost their seasons while Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon, Noah Vonleh, and Doug McDermott have been sidelined for substantial amounts of time with injuries of their own.

Mirotic's rise has contributed nicely to the Bulls success

With the big names that came into the draft, expectations were that the Rookie of the Year award would be a hard-fought battle between these collegiate standouts. Yet even in spite of all the injuries, there is one rookie that is emerging as one of the best in this year's class. In 2011, the Chicago Bulls acquired Nikola Mirotic via a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. With little cap space to work with however, the Bulls were not able to bring their newest rookie to the States immediately. But after ridding themselves of Carlos Boozer's contract and with the departure of veteran Luol Deng, John Paxson and Gar Forman were able to work Mirotic into the fold. And now, with injuries nagging the Bulls once again, Mirotic's arrival and performance could not have come at a better time.

As odd as it sounds, the Bulls' injuries in the front court have been a blessing in disguise for not only Mirotic, but the Bulls as a whole. Veterans Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah have all been sidelined with injuries at one point or another, which has only benefited the young star from Montenegro. It took time to adjust to the NBA game, and the minutes of playing time were not exactly abundant, but now head coach Tom Thibodeau has a wonderful problem to deal with. He now has to find a way to work Mirotic into the rotation even when everyone is healthy which is a testament to just how quickly Mirotic has managed to make an impact.

Through 26 games this season, "Niko" has played double-digit minutes 19 times. In twelve of those games he scored ten points or more, with his most impressive performance coming this past Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bulls were without Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson but, behind 27 points (6-6 shooting from three point range) from Mirotic, the Bulls walked away with a 103-97 victory over the then-second seeded team in the West. The win was huge, but the fact that Mirotic was lights out against one of the league's most stifling defenses shows just how far he's come in such a short amount of time.

Niko has shown no fear in his transition to the NBA

He's had his solid performances so far with three double-doubles off the bench. He is currently averaging eight points and five rebounds which, in comparison to Andrew Wiggins, is four points less than the number one overall pick but Mirotic does average one more rebound per game. Mirotic's three double-doubles is also two more than Wiggins who averages 31 minutes per game as opposed to Niko's 19. With all the injuries that have hindered this year's class, it's looking like it will come down to these two young stars at season's end.

Nikola Mirotic has been a pleasant surprise for Chicago. He has played hard and he makes a conscientious to better his teammates when he's on the floor. His constant improvement day in and day out has left members of the league anxiously waiting to see just how high his ceiling is. We're just over a quarter way of the way through the season but Mirotic has showed that he belongs in the rotation of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. It's unfortunate that this year's rookie class has been plagued with injuries, but even if the entire class was healthy Mirotic has proved that he is a star that's shining brightest among the rest.