Bulls’ Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic still aren’t on speaking terms after their preseason fight

Bobby Portis made his regular season debut for the Bulls on Tuesday, returning from an eight-game suspension to hang 21 points and 13 rebounds off the bench in Chicago’s loss to Toronto.

His status with teammate Nikola Mirotic, however — who no longer wants to play with Portis after a punch to the face caused a concussion and two facial fractures — appears to be the last thing on his mind.

“No, I haven’t talked to Niko,” he said, according to ESPN’s Nick Friedell.

”I just let bygones be bygones with that. I can’t control that. Only thing I can control is myself at this point. I’m not worried about who goes, who stays. Only thing I’m worried about is coming in trying to play at the highest level possible.”

In late October, Portis was involved in an altercation that ended with him punching Mirotic in the face after a team practice. According to several reports, Mirotic rushed Portis multiple times before he was punched in the face.

One punch from Portis, though, gave Mirotic a concussion and two maxillary fractures in his face that sidelined him for four-to-six weeks. Chicago handed Portis an eight-game suspension for the act, but it allowed him to return to action before Mirotic could fully recover. It also gave rookie Lauri Markkanen an opportunity to start while both forwards were out.

Markkanen is averaging 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds on 38 percent three-point shooting in nine starts to begin the season. Despite Portis’ hot start, he has never averaged more than seven points per game in a year, and Mirotic’s high was 11.8 points per game two seasons ago.

In a sense, rushing Portis and subsequently getting punched in the face may have cost Mirotic his job in Chicago. Now, the Montenegrin stretch-four maintains that he does not want to play with Portis, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Vincent Goodwill, and after signing a two-year contract extension entering training camp, he is willing to waive his no-trade clause to make a deal happen should the Bulls choose to keep Portis over him.

“It’s been described by one source as ‘one of them has to go,’” wrote Goodwill, “and the Bulls are aware of the tenuous situation.”

Bulls management is doing its best to support both players, according to The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson, but with Mirotic reportedly unwilling to fix his relationship with Portis, things are tough to manage in Chicago. Mirotic is also upset that he has had limited contact with his teammates while sidelined, according to Johnson.

It would appear there’s only one solution, and it’s the one Mirotic proposed: one must go. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said his focus has been getting Mirotic healthy and physically ready to play basketball again, according to Johnson.

But once he recovers, things could get awkward if he sees Portis in the next locker room he walks into.