VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Hasn't life turned out to be pretty good for Nikola Mirotic?

The Montenegrin-born forward who moved to Spain as a youngster and blossomed into one of the country's finest talents has gone from being one of the best players in Europe to arguably the top rookie in the NBA.

If ever there was evidence that it's best for NBA clubs to let their young draft picks remain on the old continent to gain big-time experience before crossing the Atlantic, Mirotic is it.

He is absolutely, positively making a winning difference for the Chicago Bulls right now.

His numbers for the entire season are not gaudy, with Mirotic averaging 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

In the month of March, however, it's a very different story.

Mirotic has poured in more than 20ppg and corralled almost 8rpg.

In a victory over Indiana on 18 March, the 24-year-old had 25 points and in a victory two days later over Toronto, Mirotic scored 29 and pulled down 11 boards.

A few days later against Charlotte, Mirotic was at it again, dropping 28 points on the Hornets.

His teammates love what he's doing for the Bulls in the stretch run of the regular season, including Spain's Paul Gasol.

"I think it's exceptional what he's doing," Gasol said.

"Especially this month has been spectacular."

The Americans think highly of him, too, including Jimmy Butler.

Man, dude can play - Butler

"He's basically carried this month, to tell you the truth," Butler said.

"He's confident, I think he's only going to continue to get better because he's always in a gym working on his game and it shows."

Mirotic didn't set the NBA on fire when he first got here, but there were plenty of indications before he did arrive that he would eventually do so.

Twice he was named the recipient of the Rising Star award presented by the Euroleague, and in 2013, he was the Spanish Liga Endesa MVP.

You know who else has been the MVP of the Spanish league?

Marc Gasol scooped the honor in 2008 and we all know what's happened since then. Marc Gasol has become one of the best centers in the world.

Brazil international center Tiago Splitter was the MVP in 2010.

He is now an NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs.

So yes, when Chicago picked Mirotic with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, they knew what they doing.

And Mirotic didn't just stay in Europe, but played for Real Madrid in big game after big game.

It's going to be exciting watching him play for the remainder of the season, and to see what sort of impact he has in the play-offs.

After that comes an interesting situation.

Mirotic has been second choice to Serge Ibaka for Spain's naturalized spot in the national team.

He didn't play at the London Olympics, then turned down the chance to play for Spain at EuroBasket 2013.

Spain took Ibaka to the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year.

With Oklahoma City star Ibaka now sidelined following knee surgery, it seems unlikely he will be with Spain this summer.

Will Spain call Mirotic and invite him to the team? Will he say yes, but with the caveat that he play at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics if they qualify?

That is potentially a very difficult situation for Spain to find themselves in.

They must first appoint a coach following the departure of Juan Antonio Orenga, who fell on his own sword after last year's Quarter-Final exit at the World Cup.

Will it help Mirotic's cause that he is now a teammate of Pau Gasol in the NBA?

Watch this space.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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