The Playbook: Nikola Mirotic is Chicago's secret weapon

Fred Hoiberg's calculated gamble of swapping Nikola Mirotic for Joakim Noah has breathed life into a Chicago Bulls starting unit that sometimes struggled on offense last season.

Mirotic, a 24-year-old sophomore, is giving the Bulls' attack a whole new dimension. While he still ranks as the fourth option behind Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Pau Gasol in the starting lineup, Mirotic is Chicago's secret weapon.

Over the Bulls' 5-3 start, Mirotic is averaging 18.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and three triples per 36 minutes. With Mirotic on the floor, the Bulls rank in the top 10 in both offense and defensive efficiency, and have outscored opponents by 46 points in his 207 minutes.

"You call him a hooper, man," Rose told ESPN Chicago's Nick Friedell. "He's a baller. Whatever you need on the floor, he's going to do. He's never like a selfish-type player. Even if he's not knocking down shots, he's doing things on the floor, trying to get his teammates involved in the game."

It all starts with the jump shot. Mirotic fires freely and isn't afraid to launch from anywhere within 30 feet of the basket. He's attempted 8.6 3-pointers per 36 minutes, which ranks fourth behind Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Damian Lillard this season.

Mirotic opened the season against an All-Star in Kevin Love and dominated his matchup. He drilled two 3-pointers in the first quarter and had Love on his heels all night before leading Chicago to a win.

Here, Mirotic sizes up Love, before pulling up from 27 feet. "Threekola" is never short on confidence.

Mirotic pairs his jump shot with a lethal pump fake. He's adept at catching defenders off-balance, and can then drive past them or draw fouls on his move. On the play below, Love steps out to meet Mirotic, who easily counters by taking Love off the dribble before getting to the rack.

Mirotic's shooting plays a pivotal role in Hoiberg's pace-and-space offense, and it's the main reason why Noah was evicted from the starting unit.

For all his defensive talents, Noah's offensive shortcomings grind Chicago's offense into the ground. Noah is averaging 2.4 points per game on the season and the Bulls are scoring 96.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

It all traces back to Noah's inability to shoot. Defenses are just sitting back when Noah has the ball, opting to take away cutters and stay at home on shooters. Here, the Bulls try to run their three-man weave at the top of the floor, but it leads nowhere because Andre Drummond completely ignores Noah.

That dynamic changes with Mirotic on the court. On the same play, Mirotic is able to keep the defense honest by keeping his man tied to the perimeter, which opens up room for Rose to get into the paint for an open floater.

Armed with the added space Mirotic affords him, Rose is attacking the paint with abandon. Despite sometimes seeing double on account of his broken orbital bone, 59 percent of Rose's shots attempts have come in the paint with Mirotic on the court.

Even the returns on defense have been positive. Mirotic struggled to keep up with wings when he played small forward last season, but now that he's matched up against power forward, his lack of explosiveness is hardly an issue. He has more than enough quickness to keep up with fours, and that allows him to be comfortable checking fellow stretch-fours, which have become commonplace in the modern NBA.

Mirotic's play isn't totally unprecedented, either. When Taj Gibson went down with injuries last season, Mirotic soaked up his minutes at power forward, and posted March averages of 20.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in 30.8 minutes.

Hoiberg's strategy is bold, to be sure, but the results haven't been particularly surprising to one person: Mirotic. He told HoopsHype in the offseason that the new coach's arrival meant the best version of himself was yet to come.

"Some people may have been surprised with my performance, but those who know me know the best Mirotic is yet to come," he said.

And with Mirotic finding his groove, the best of the Bulls may also be yet to come.