2014 NBA Free Agency Rumors & Predictions: Chicago Out Of Carmelo Anthony Race? Bulls To Bring Nikola Mirotic! 'Best Player Outside The NBA' Takes Melo’s Place?

The 2014 NBA Free Agency Rumors & Predictions are getting updates by the minute! Less than 24 hours after the Carmelo Anthony tour, the Chicago Bulls seem to have accepted their fate and are executing their next option in Nikola Mirotic. Is this really the white flag for the Bulls?

Not really. Mirotic has always been a part of their plan. The 23-year old has been ripe for the NBA as far back as two years ago and he is considered as a better player than the recent European recruits. He is on his last year with Real Madrid and he has won MVP honors in the Spanish league-also known as the toughest outside the NBA.

The report from NBC Sports shows how the Bulls can afford BOTH Carmelo and Mirotic:

"The Bulls have a plan - trading multiple rotation pieces, convincing Melo to take less money, convincing Mirotic to take less money or some combination thereof - to clear enough cap room to sign both Melo and Mirotic outright.

I trust Chicago knows what its doing with those two, and Melo obviously should take priority.But Mirotic has a place in all this, too. If Boozer isn't long for Chicago and Taj Gibson replaces him in the starting lineup, Mirotic would slide nicely into the rotation."

Perhaps the announcement that Mirotic is coming is timed to sway Carmelo Anthony to their favor. It will cost the Bulls to amnesty Carlos Boozer, something their owner has been notoriously avoiding. However, if it means having  Mirotic, who's a European stretch four, strong at 6'10" and an accurate three point shot being paired with Melo and Noah at the frontline with Taj Gibson as the reliever, this team will be the Beast of the East. All the more if Miami loses LeBron which is becoming more of a possibility, the path seems very clear for them.