After starting out 3-20, the Chicago Bulls have been a revelation since Nikola Mirotic returned to the lineup. They're 10-5 with Mirotic on the floor, and have been an absolute pain to play -- even when they don't win.

But even though he has helped lead the Bulls turnaround, Mirotic -- who's averaging 18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and shooting 46.3 percent from 3 -- reportedly still wants to be traded. His desire to play elsewhere stems of course from the preseason incident with Bobby Portis, which left him in the hospital with a concussion and facial fractures and caused him to miss the first 23 games of the season. Via the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Sun-Times reported last week that Mirotic and his representatives are standing firm on his trade request and that he is willing to waive the no-trade clause in his contract when he's eligible to be dealt Jan. 15.

Mirotic cannot be traded until Jan. 15 because of his contract situation last offseason. Normally, players who sign new contracts in the offseason are eligible to be traded on Dec. 15, but Mirotic was part of a small group of players who not only signed a new deal, but also received at least a 20 percent raisefrom a team that was over the salary cap and used Bird rights or Early Bird rights to sign them.

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If this restriction wasn't in place, Mirotic might already be gone from Chicago. As it stands, he's likely to be moved once Jan. 15 passes. And there are a number of reasons moving Mirotic makes sense.

For one, he's requested a trade, and even though they've been playing well, there remains an uncomfortable dynamic with both him and Portis in the locker room. In addition, the Bulls should be able to get a decent return for Mirotic from a team looking to bolster their playoff hopes, and even if the team wouldn't admit so publicly, they really should be positioning themselves for a high draft pick this year.

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Moving Mirotic, who has been one of their best players lately, would help with that goal.