Mirotic fractures facial bone, suffers concussion in fight with teammate Portis

The Chicago Bulls' season is off to a catastrophic start.

Bulls power forwards Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis got into a serious physical altercation at practice Tuesday, resulting in Mirotic being ruled out indefinitely with a concussion and fractured maxillary bone, the team announced.

Mirotic's been hospitalized, sources told The Vertical's Shams Charania, and suffered the injuries when Portis caught him with a cheap shot to the face. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reports that the two players were jockeying for position and the physicality devolved into a shoving match, which culminated in Portis' sucker punch.

The Bulls say Mirotic will likely require surgery, and the team is weighing disciplinary action for the incident.

Mirotic is just three weeks removed from signing a two-year, $27-million deal to remain with the Bulls. As ESPN's Bobby Marks points out, there is a clause that allows teams to void player contracts if a violent act is committed. The Bulls also have until Oct. 31 to decide whether to exercise their fourth-year option on Portis for 2018-19, which is worth $2.5 million (he's set to make $1.5 million this season in the third year of his rookie deal).

In 70 games last season, the 26-year-old Mirotic averaged 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds with a .413/.342/.773 shooting line. In his sophomore campaign with Chicago, Portis averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds across 64 games.

The Bulls open their season against the Raptors in Toronto on Thursday night.