Bulls’ Nikola Mirotic has emergency appendectomy

Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic underwent an emergency appendectomy and will miss some time as a result.

The Chicago Bulls have been fighting injuries and finding a rhythm under new head coach Fred Hoiberg lately. After losing center Joakim Noah, the team has now lost another key member of the team for a little bit.

On Wednesday, the Bulls announced that forward Nikola Mirotic did not join the team on their journey to Los Angeles, after Mirotic underwent an emergency appendectomy after being diagnosed with an acute appendicitis.

They also announced that Mirotic would not return to the team until after the All-Star break.

While the All-Star break is only a few short weeks away, the Bulls are at a critical point in the season with a big Western Conference road swing ahead of them. After losing Noah, the Bulls can’t afford to lose any more depth up front and Mirotic provided the Bulls the spacing in the front court that they need.

Things haven’t gone as well as the Bulls would hope this season, despite the fact that they are a contender in the Eastern Conference. The team hasn’t seemed to click on offense like they expected to and key players are beginning to get hurt.

Losing Noah was bad because it took a defensive anchor off the court. Losing Mirotic takes away that desperately needed floor spacer on offense and now Hoiberg is going to have to get more creative in the way that he adjusts his lineups.

At this point of the season, every win and loss is critical as it can be the difference between a high seed or ending up out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls will have to hold on for a couple of weeks without Mirotic spacing the offense.