The Bulls locker room has been somewhat divided after Nikola Mirotic and teammate Bobby Portis got in an altercation during practice on Oct. 17, which left Mirotic with a concussion and two broken bones in his face.
Following the fight, Mirotic gave the team a "me or him" ultimatum, which the Chicago Sun-Times reported carried zero weight in the locker room and one player said, "This is Niko's problem now."
The Bulls VP of basketball operations, John Paxson, indicated on Monday that the team is not planning to make any roster changes "for the sake of moving him," despite Mirotic and his representatives expressing a desire to move either Mirotic or Portis.
‘‘I’m not going to really talk about anything that’s been asked of us,’’ Paxson said, per Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘The reality is that you just can’t move a guy for the sake of moving him. We’re going to have to do what’s in our best interests, first and foremost. That’s how we’re going about it day-to-day.
‘‘Both Niko and Bobby are on our roster right now. And Niko’s getting cleared to do more and more. This obviously is coming to a position where it’s going to have to be resolved between the two.’’
The two have not spoken since the altercation, but Paxson did say it would be on Mirotic to make the effort to interact again with his teammates since they are both on the roster.
‘‘When [Mirotic] started to get healthy, because he’s on our roster, it’s incumbent on him to be around when the team’s around. That’s just a part of it. I look at it this way: We want him to start coming around more. And it is on him to do that,’’ Paxson said.
The Bulls initially said Mirotic would be out four to six weeks, and he is nearing the four-week mark of his recovery. Mirotic has not been cleared for contact, but he did return to the practice facilities on Monday, visiting the trainer's room and lifting weights, according to ESPN .
"The timeline for him getting back is all how he's feeling and recovering from what he went through," Paxson said. "He obviously has to get his conditioning up to a level that he needs to. That's all a process for him."
