A draft night can change hands three times before a player ever puts on an NBA jersey. That happened to Nikola Mirotić in 2011, when the rights to the Montenegrin-born forward moved from Houston to Minnesota and then to Chicago. It was a fittingly complicated start for a career that would stretch across Real Madrid, the NBA, Barcelona, Milan and Monaco, with trophies almost everywhere along the way.
From Podgorica to Real Madrid
Nikola Mirotić was born on February 11, 1991, in Titograd, then part of SR Montenegro, Yugoslavia, now Podgorica. He began playing at the Joker basketball school in Podgorica before making the move that shaped his career: joining Real Madrid’s youth system as a teenager.
By the mid-2000s, he was in one of Europe’s most demanding development pipelines. He played for Real Madrid’s junior teams and then worked his way into the senior setup, with a loan spell at Palencia in 2009-10 to gain minutes and experience. That was a common route for young prospects in Spain, but in his case it also served as a bridge. He returned to Madrid no longer just as a project, but as a player ready to matter.
His rise was quick. Mirotić won the EuroLeague Rising Star award in both 2011 and 2012, becoming one of the continent’s most closely watched young forwards. He could score facing the basket, draw fouls and stretch the floor, and that combination made him unusually difficult to defend for a player his size.
The honors followed. With Real Madrid, he won the 2013 Liga ACB title and collected individual awards that showed how far he had come: Liga ACB MVP in 2013, Spanish Supercup MVP in 2013 and Copa del Rey MVP in 2014. He was also named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team in 2013 and 2014. Across 97 EuroLeague games in his first Madrid spell, he averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds, and in 2011-12 he led the competition in free-throw percentage at 91.8.
The long-awaited NBA move
The NBA had been watching for years. In the 2011 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets selected him with the 23rd overall pick. His rights were then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and later that same night to the Chicago Bulls.
He did not leave Spain right away. Instead, he stayed with Real Madrid until 2014, continuing to build his game and his résumé before crossing to the NBA. By the time he arrived in Chicago, he was not an unknown international flyer. He was an accomplished European forward with a clear identity: a frontcourt scorer who could shoot from deep and punish mismatches.
Chicago: instant offense, uneven path
Mirotić joined the Bulls for the 2014-15 season and made an immediate impression. He averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists as a rookie, earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Andrew Wiggins. He was also named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month twice, in December and March.
Those early Chicago years showed both sides of his game. On offense, he could change spacing the moment he stepped on the floor. At 6-foot-10, he was comfortable launching from three, attacking slower defenders and getting to the line. On the other end, like many offense-first forwards, he could be targeted. But teams kept finding room for him because the shooting was real and the scoring came in bursts that could swing games.
His NBA run with the Bulls lasted from 2014 to 2018, though it was not a straight climb. There were productive stretches, lineup changes and the usual uncertainty that comes with being a skilled scorer on a team trying to define itself. Still, he established himself as a legitimate NBA contributor rather than a European star who could not quite translate.
New Orleans and Milwaukee
A trade sent him to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018, and for a while the fit looked ideal. In New Orleans, his floor spacing opened room for a faster, more modern attack, and he produced some of the best numbers of his NBA career. Across the 2018-19 season split between New Orleans and Milwaukee, he averaged 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. In his Pelicans stint after the 2018 trade, he gave them another scoring option in the frontcourt and helped stretch defenses in a playoff push.
He was then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2019. The move placed him on a contender, but his time there was brief. After five NBA seasons, Mirotić chose to return to Europe rather than continue in the league.
His final NBA totals: 319 regular-season games, 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, with shooting splits of 42.3 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from three and 80.8 percent from the line.
Barcelona and the biggest European chapter
In July 2019, he signed with Barcelona, a move that immediately became one of the biggest stories in European basketball. Reported contract figures varied by outlet and were widely discussed at the time, but those numbers were reports rather than club-confirmed public details.
What was confirmed on the court was his impact. Mirotić returned to Spain and quickly became one of the central figures in the ACB and EuroLeague again. He won Liga ACB MVP in 2020, adding a second league MVP to the one he had earned with Real Madrid years earlier.
Barcelona’s team success followed. During his time there, the club won Liga ACB titles in 2021 and 2023, Copa del Rey titles in 2021 and 2022, and he was named Liga ACB Finals MVP in both 2021 and 2023. He also took Copa del Rey MVP honors in 2022.
The peak came in the EuroLeague. In 2022, Mirotić was named EuroLeague MVP, the clearest individual marker of his standing in the competition. He made the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2021 and 2022, then the Second Team in 2023.
That Barcelona chapter ended abruptly in July 2023, when the club terminated his contract as part of what it described as a financial viability plan. It was a major administrative decision, not a reflection of a sudden drop in his level, and it closed one of the most decorated stretches of his career.
Milano, then Monaco
He did not stay on the market long. In August 2023, Mirotić signed with Olimpia Milano and immediately gave the Italian club what it wanted: proven scoring, experience and frontcourt skill that translated in any league.
In the 2023-24 Italian league season, he averaged 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds and helped Milano win the Lega Basket Serie A title. He was named Finals MVP, another addition to a long list of postseason awards.
He also kept climbing the EuroLeague record book. In October 2023, he moved into the competition’s top 10 all-time scorers, another sign of how long and how steadily he had produced at that level.
Mirotić later joined AS Monaco. Reported details about the agreement circulated in European basketball media, but where contract terms are concerned, it is safest to treat figures and options as reported unless officially confirmed by the club.
Spain, not Montenegro, at international level
Though born in Montenegro, Mirotić became a naturalized Spanish citizen and represented Spain in international competition. His youth-team record was outstanding. At the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Spain won bronze. A year later, Spain won gold, and Mirotić was the tournament’s standout player, earning MVP honors while leading the event in scoring at 27.0 points per game.
He later joined Spain’s senior national team and was part of the squad that won EuroBasket 2015. He also helped Spain claim bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
In January 2023, he announced his retirement from the Spanish national team, citing personal and business reasons.
How he played
The outline of Mirotić’s game stayed remarkably consistent from Madrid to Chicago to Barcelona. He was primarily a power forward, though he could also play center in smaller lineups. His value started with offense.
He was a high-level shooting big, comfortable from three-point range and dangerous in pick-and-pop actions. He could score in bunches, punish closeouts with one or two dribbles and get to the free-throw line. For a player his size, his touch was always one of his defining traits. Rebounding mattered too, especially on the defensive glass, but his reputation was built on spacing and scoring.
That is also where the nickname “Threekola” came from. It is a light detail, but an accurate one: the outside shot followed him through every phase of his career.
Off the court
Publicly available details about his private life have been relatively limited, and that is worth respecting. The clearest personal note he has offered in his own words came when he stepped away from the Spanish national team, citing personal and business reasons. Beyond that, much of the off-court discussion around him has centered less on gossip than on career decisions and club politics.
That, in its own way, tells part of the story. Mirotić’s career has often turned on institutional moves as much as on box scores: draft-night trades before he reached the NBA, a high-profile return to Europe, and a Barcelona exit driven by finances rather than form. Through all of it, the basketball identity stayed the same. Teams wanted the same thing from him: points, shooting and the kind of frontcourt skill that fits almost anywhere.
FAQ
Is Nikola Mirotić still playing basketball?
Yes. He has continued his club career in Europe after stints with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Olimpia Milano.
What is Nikola Mirotić’s nationality?
He was born in Montenegro and later became a naturalized Spanish citizen. He represented Spain internationally.
Did Nikola Mirotić play in the NBA?
Yes. He played in the NBA from 2014 to 2019 for the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks.
Did Nikola Mirotić win EuroLeague MVP?
Yes. He won the EuroLeague MVP award in 2022 while playing for Barcelona.
What are Nikola Mirotić’s NBA career stats?
In 319 regular-season NBA games, he averaged 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Which European teams has Nikola Mirotić played for?
He has played for Real Madrid, Palencia, Barcelona, Olimpia Milano and AS Monaco.
