NBA Rumors: Why it makes the most sense for Jimmy Butler to stay with the Chicago Bulls
If you have kept at least one ear to the happenings of the 2017 NBA offseason, then you definitely know that Jimmy Butler’s name has been bounced around in trade rumors since the clock hit zero in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Over the past week, the Chicago Bulls have been in talks with Cleveland, Boston, Minnesota, and Phoenix on a possible deal for the two-time all-star.
Even though the Bulls have given Butler about as much loyalty as a cheating housewife over the past two seasons through trade talks, Chicago’s front office is putting its attention in all of the wrong places this offseason.
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The Bulls would be accepting a full rebuild if they trade off Butler before the 2017 season tips off. However, that is not necessary to ensure having a competitive squad in the years to come.
Even with the possibility of forming a (somewhat) superteam in Cleveland hanging in the balance, Jimmy Butler has expressed how much he wants to stay in Chicago numerous times.
His career started there and he has been beneficial to not only the team in his six seasons, but himself as well.
Dwyane Wade picked up his option to remain with Chicago for the 2017-18 season, meaning that even though the veteran is running out of time to grab one more ring, he believes in the potential of the team to start contending with the league’s elite.
The Bulls would be better off keeping Wade and Butler together for at least one more season and shedding Rondo out of the United Center instead. By getting rid of the cancerous locker room presence that Rondo seems to bring to every team he goes to, the Bulls can then engage in bringing in free agents Kyle Lowry or Chris Paul.
As far as the teams he has rumored to be sent off to, Butler would not fit well in any of them. Cleveland’s front office situation since the departure of GM David Griffin has left the team in turmoil and players have even reached out to Butler warning him to stay away from the “suddenly volatile” situation in Cleveland, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
With Cleveland left picking up the pieces of a front office issue, the next best suitor would be Boston. Rejoining former Marquette teammates Jae Crowder and Butler would be great, right? Wrong.
In the 10 games that Boston and Chicago played this past season, six of them were stopped because of an altercation on the court, and four of those included Jimmy Butler himself.
Phoenix and Minnesota would then arise as potential suitors due to their availability of high draft picks. Neither would be good fits for Butler and both would not have any tradeable star power to bring in to compliment Wade in Chicago.
At the end of the day, the Bulls need to revert to the supposed “positive” conversation that they had with Butler in early June about his future in Chicago, and start building their own superteam around Wade’s veteran presence, Butler’s prime years, and the plethora of free agents at hand this offseason.
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The time to rebuild is not now, but the time to start switching the mindset on Butler’s future as a Bull is past-due.