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Tweet of the Day: Chicago Bulls Introduce Gasol, Mirotic

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The Chicago Bulls introduced their two new big men Friday. [AP Photo/M. Spencer Green]

The Chicago Bulls introduced their two new big men Friday.
[AP Photo/M. Spencer Green]

It’s official.

The Chicago Bulls are now, barring Kevin Love being traded from Minnesota to Cleveland, the top threat to win the Eastern Conference in 2014-15. For a team that was highly competitive and amongst the best defensive squads in the league without star point guard Derrick Rose, they have gotten deeper and better.

Beyond the added scoring that they’ll get from incoming rookie Doug McDermott, the Bulls have officially signed former Los Angeles Lakers forward/center Pau Gasol and Euroleague star Nikola Mirotic.

The team signed both players and introduced them Friday at separate press conferences.

The Bulls got Mirotic to sign his contract first before trotting him out for the Media at 11:30 a.m. CT.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman had nothing but praise for the young Spanish forward who, in five seasons with Real Madrid CF, averaged 13.1 points per game while shooting 49.8-percent from the floor. He also shot an impressive 40.2-percent from beyond-the-arc, while maintaining an 84.8 free throw percentage.

We feel Nikola will be a great addition to our frontcourt where he he’ll be able to space the floor with his outstanding shooting ability. We’ve known Nikola for several years and we are confident he will be a great fit for our team both on and off the court. He’s a player with great potential.”

Mirotic talked about the difficulty of leaving Madrid for Chicago, and why he, ultimately, chose to do so.

It was a difficult decision to make, especially because of the personal moment I was leaving behind in Madrid, for everything at the end of the year, when we didn’t win a title. Everyone thought I would stay one more year in Madrid because the Final Four in the Euroleague was going to be in Madrid next year.

“But I felt this was the adequate moment was right now, this year, both for me personally and especially because I would get a chance to improve more as a basketball player over here and because I was absolutely sure I could adapt to Chicago Bulls and the NBA game in the first year.

“It played a key role, the fact that the Chicago Bulls had so much interest in me and tried so hard to get me. I valued that and made the decision to come early.”

The two-time NBA champion followed shortly after before signing his contract.

Forman took great pleasure in introducing Gasol.

We are really excited to add such a versatile player to our roster who has been both an All-Star and an NBA Champion. Pau is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ and is a true pro and a proven winner.”

Gasol, who admitted that he had talked with the Bulls’ former MVP, spoke in detail about his motivation for choosing to come to Chicago.

Money obviously wasn’t the priority here. I turned down bigger offers, and I prioritized being on a championship-caliber team and being in a position where I can hopefully put that team over the top with my game, as well. I felt that here, I was going to have that opportunity, and now it’s just a matter of getting to work.”

The two Spanish big men hope to propel Chicago to the top of the Eastern Conference standings and into the NBA Finals, where the team has not been since the Michael Jordan-led Bulls won the championship—their third straight, and sixth in as many tries—in 1998.

 

 

Previous Tweet Posts:

Tweet of the Night: Kendall Marshall Mistaken For Israeli Player

Tweet of the Day: Steve Koonin Shows Concern For Bill Russell
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Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com.

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