Pelicans get Mirotic to fill in for Cousins

The Pelicans acquired 6foot-10 forward Nikola Mirotic and a second-round draft pick from the Bulls on Thursday for center Omer Asik, guards Jameer Nelson and Tony Allen, and a first-round pick.

The trade comes less than a week after New Orleans lost All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending injury.

Mirotic has averaged 16.8 points and 6.4 rebounds since missing the first 23 games this season with two broken bones in his face stemming from a fight in practice with Bobby Portis. The altercation soured Mirotic on playing for Chicago, and the Bulls were looking to accommodate his request to be traded.

Mirotic is due $12.5 million next season, but that becomes easier for the Pelicans to absorb now that Asik is off their books. He was due about $12 million next season. Dragic an All-Star: Heat guard Goran Dragic was selected for the All-Star Game by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement for Cavaliers forward Kevin Love. Dragic, a 10-year veteran, is an All-Star for the first time. He leads the Heat with averages of 17 points and 4.8 assists per game. Silver made the pick diplomatically: Dragic was next in line, based on the number of voting points he received from head coaches among players not already selected. He is the lone All-Star for Miami, which is fourth in the Eastern Conference. Briefly: The Suns waived center Greg Monroe in a buyout agreement. He averaged 11.3 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 assists in 20 games after coming in a trade from the Bucks. He was making $17.8 million in the final season of a three-year, $50 million deal . ... Suns guard Isaiah Canaan, who broke his left ankle in a game against the Mavericks on Wednesday, had successful surgery for the injury, the team announced. Canaan is expected to miss the rest of the season, the Arizona Republic reported.