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The Chicago Bulls should acquire Jahlil Okafor for chemistry

By Michael RENE KANOY

Jan 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) shoots from the foul line during the second quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) shoots from the foul line during the second quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /
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The rumored Chicago Bulls trade for Jahlil Okafor looks like Gar Forman and John Paxson deciding to slide into a soft rebuild mid-season, and it doesn’t look better than moving Jimmy Butler for a bigger and longer version of himself in Okafor?

Must Read: How Bulls can Trade for Jahlil Okafor

In spite of Okafor’s middling numbers as a second stringer for the Sixers, and the emergence of both Nerlens Noel and Joel Embid as the de facto frontcourt for Philadelphia, grabbing a 21-year-old former No. 2 draft pick still has upside.

The trade I propose is Jahlil Okafor and the Sixers’ 2017 first rounder, now the 4th pick, in exchange for Jimmy Butler and the Bulls’ own first rounder, now at 17th overall. There may be other personnel involved to even out salaries: The other players who I choose to match salaries are Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Dario Saric. Both are young and athletic kids who may fit a Fred Hoiberg run-and-gun system better than Jimmy Butler.

If the Sixers are not too greedy about keeping their own young guys and are willing to part with them for a three-time All-Star like Jimmy and a mid-first round draft pick from Bulls, that’s a real good trade for both sides given the value of Butler, with two more years to develop both Saric and Luwawu-Cabarrot as opposed to a ready-to-play All-Star.

If the Sixers want to contend yesterday, they can do no worse than Jimmy Butler playing alongside Joel Embid and Nerlens Noel, plus any good steal they get from the Bulls first rounder if they swap picks.

Using the eye test, I believe Okafor is a taller version of Jimmy as a low-post scorer, who is a more vital cog in a Hoiberg offensive system than Butler has proven himself to be.

The nail in the coffin for Jimmy may be the Chicago Tribune via David Haugh calling him out:

"…Butler, whose ego makes it fair to wonder how coachable he has become. Jimmy being Jimmy has guaranteed nothing more than mediocrity."

Historically, when Chicago sports press says you are on the way out as a player, it means a lot. They used to be all praises for Jimmy and admonishing to build around him. Now, no more.

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Jimmy may have gotten the ire of Bulls management after throwing his teammates under the bus in an ill-advised media faux-pas of him talking about himself wanting his teammates to care about winning. The chemistry of the team is the crux of the matter. For 40-50 games thus far, there is no sync with Jimmy and the rest of the Bulls while he gets his All-Star numbers.

That is 57 games lost developing all the young Bulls players to come into their own, because they have been playing empty minutes deferring to “Jimmy-being-Jimmy” as the main gun in ISO basketball, then being blamed for supposed inconsistencies when the problem is one of priorities.

The Bulls brought in Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott to play the role of shooters. They should have been Hoiberg’s priority in developing the team offense and not satisfying the ego of Butler. Slowly but surely, the increase in touches to Jimmy and the other Alphas and the decrease in shots of the drafted scorers has stunted youth player development.

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It’s no surprise, the vaunted passing game and movement trap quick sets of Hoiball were rarely seen. Now is the chance to get a better teammate for the rest of the Bulls if nothing else. If you notice those games where Jimmy is nursing a bad shooting game by passing the ball more and getting to the foul line, the younger Bulls actually contribute more because they are involved in the game and the team wins easily.

Okafor will represent a clear upgrade over Butler because he will be forced to play within Hoiberg’s system and present an inside threat that reverses the Bulls situation, freeing Doug and Nikola to shoot or cut back door.

When his body fills out and he becomes a wall defender like Cristiano Felicio, Okafor will improve the Bulls defense tremendously. This trade looks like the best fit, addition by subtraction, for both parties.

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