Nikola Mirotic To Start At Small Forward For The Bulls

By Cody Westerlund--

(CBS) Looking for a shakeup with a struggling offense and on a two-game losing streak, the Bulls (15-10) will start Nikola Mirotic at small forward in place of Tony Snell in Monday evening's contest against the Nets (7-20), coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Mirotic has started 18 games at power forward this season, but it will be his first long look at small forward. He was dropped from the starting rotation prior to a Dec. 9 loss at Boston.

The move also allows rookie Bobby Portis to get some minutes at power forward that Mirotic usually plays. Hoiberg and his staff had been discussing ways to get Portis more meaningful minutes after he had 20 points and 11 rebounds in a loss against the Knicks on Saturday.

"It changes roles a little bit, you get a little more size out there," Hoiberg said. "Try to get Niko going a little with that first group, try to get an opportunity for him to space the floor with a couple playmakers out there. We'll see how it goes.

"With Bobby's play the other night, we're trying to get him some minutes. This will free some of those up.

"Bobby will get an opportunity to go out there and play tonight and hopefully build off what he did in New York a couple days ago. We're confident that he will continue to get better. Just get the guys to go out and play with energy. That's our big thing."

Snell isn't necessarily out of the rotation, Hoiberg said, but his minutes will clearly be reduced. Snell has started 21 games this season, averaging 5.6 points on 34.8 percent shooting.

Mirotic will start alongside Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose. Mirotic is averaging 10.6 points on 38.3 percent shooting.

Hoiberg donwplayed concerns about Mirotic's defense at small forward, which has been a worry in the past in the short stints in which he's manned that spot. Using Mirotic at small forward was an experiment former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau conducted last season, to varying success.

"Niko's done a solid job of moving his feet out there," Hoiberg said.