Bulls Trade Scenarios for Jimmy Butler: With Celtics and TWolves or Sacramento

Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf has assigned GarPax to take “aggressive measures” making changes to the Bulls lineup for next year. Trading Jimmy Butler looks like the most aggressive option of them all.

To fit both Coach Fred Hoiberg’s system and keep the locker room spirit intact, the Chicago Bulls may actually trade Jimmy Butler this summer in exchange for other players. Butler himself said it was his fault the Bulls were not able to get into the play-offs this year and the rift between him and Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose over leadership of the Bulls might be a divide that will never be bridged. Let’s look at the Bulls trade scenarios for Jimmy Butler for this summer, at least the ones most likely to happen given recent reports of draft pick offers and head coach movements around the league..

Boston Celtics Offer 2 First Rounders

The Boston Herald reported earlier that Danny Ainge had approached the Bulls FO to inquire about the availability of Jimmy Butler in exchange for the Nets lottery pick (4th) and the Dallas Mavericks middle first round pick (16th) plus any of their bench players. Boston also has 5 second round picks available for trade if any offer is good. Considering the holes in the Bulls middle with Pau Gasol gone and Joakim Noah a little beat up, reviving this exchange would be the best for both parties–Ainge gets the All-Star he covets as the first piece of his proto-championship team in exchange for unknown quantities from a supposedly weak draft.

GarPax should go all out on this trade and even ship Bulls forwards Taj Gibson and Tony Snell (even though we don’t want to lose Snell) to Ainge just to close the deal. Who do the Bulls pick with 2 Celtics-owned first rounders and 5 second tounders? Remember that the Bulls core for scoring is already set and that they desperately need a back-up point guard to allow Derrick Rose to play at peak form all season long going into the play-offs and possibly be the future starting point guard if Derrick wants the fattest contract he can get from being an unrestricted free agent after next year. The guards they need also to fit Hoiball and be able to make the current scoring core of Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott plus Bobby Portis more potent than just standing at opposite corners waiting for kick-out passes for 30 plus games and getting none–circa Butler’s era.

They can get either 6-5 Dejounte Murray or 6-1 Demetrius Jackson as the future Bulls point guard, or even BOTH of them if Demetrius Jackson slides to the Bulls own 14th pick. Both guards are as lightining quick as Aaron Brooks but can play nose-to-the-ball defense and have tremendous upside as creators especially Murray who projects to be a very strong attacking player once he gets pro games under his belt and learns Fred Hoiberg’s system. According to Draft Express: “Murray is a very fluid and slithery player, capable of playing above the rim in space, and knowing how to get to where he needs to on the floor thanks to his excellent instincts and pace. Murray is an incredibly aggressive player, always looking for ways to get inside the paint and get a shot off, not being afraid of contact in the least bit. He shows some interesting ball-handling moves, with big swooping crossovers and fancy change of speed moves, mixing in terrific body control with instinctive footwork that allows him to execute some highly advanced scoring combos at times. ” If anyone can play like the Derrick Rose of the future–threading through any defense, it will be Dejounte Murray–watch his highlight reel on You Tube aside from the Draft Express look at him. Getting him with everything the Bulls can muster compensates for losing Jimmy Butler if Murray turns into a generational player super guard.

At the 16th pick the Bulls can still grab 6-9 Marquese Chriss, Murray’s teammate on Washington, if he slides down there, And with the 5 second round picks, they can get more Hoiball pieces like: wing forward, 6-8 Georges Niang from Iowa Srate, 6-5 point guard Marcus Paige from NCAA finalist North Carolina, 6-11 Petr Cornelie of LeMans France, 6-5 Malcolm Brogdon of Virginia, 6-5 Gary Payton II from Oregon State, and Dorian Finney-Snith of Florida. The Bulls even have their own 2nd round pick among all of those Boston 2nd rounders, All of these picks don’t project as rotation players but can earn spot minutes if anyone gets injured and are all vital role players on defense except for Niang, Paige and Cornelie.

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If any of these second rounders don’t make the NBA cut, they can work their way back via the Windy City Bulls–the Chicago D-league team. That is tremendous insurance against any future injuries from a draft that is mostly rough-cut gems that need polish as well as role players as opposed to immediate rotation possibilities. It’s like having a 20 man NBA team with at least 4 to 5 dudebros on-reserve call in the D-league.

Trading away Jimmy, Taj and even Snell will free a big amount of cash for salary cap space ($20 M from Noah and Gasol plus 27 M or so from Butler, Snell and Taj) that also allows the Bulls to grab any max-player free agent they to fill out the loss of Pau Gasol. Maybe Dwight Howard for more defense in the middle, or maybe somebody else.

Aside from filling team needs and getting rid of locker room animosity, GarPax reinject the Bulls with youth, tougher defense, and give Fred Hoiberg all the ammo he needs to win. If the Celtics make the offer again, both get exactly what they want for future plans. Among the Bulls trade scenarios for Jimmy Butler, this one spells blockbuster.

Minnesota Timberwolves Players

Tom Thibodeau is the new Head Coach and co-President of Player Personnel for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His favorite player is Jimmy Butler. Tom has been the type of NBA coach who is averse to playing kids to have them grow into their roles faster–Thibs prefers to ease them into the rotation as role players.

Offering Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and even Tony Snell might be too good an offer for even Thibs to refuse parting with Ricky Rubio, Gorgui Dieng, Tyus Jones, and the 5th first round pick on the lottery. Watch Rubio face off against the Golden State Warriors and you’ll see why Hoiball gets a turbocharger with the Spanish guard. Rubio will make the Bulls shooters look like Stephen Curry all game long. His defense will still be tops and enable run outs and rim attacks on the opposite end. Tyus Jones can play an equally fast gane as ball carrier and Dieng is the complete wing defender and scorer the team needs. With the 5th pick, the Bulls grab Dejounte Murray or Demetrius Jackson again–DRose is on his last season so insurance is always handy–and pick Marquese Chriss with the 14th or a big man. The Bulls free up cap space again for a run on any max contract type like Nick Batum and the aforementioned Dwight Howard.

This exchange may seem the most workable among the Bulls trade scenarios for Jimmy Butler, unless Thibs has a different vision for the TWolves. Coach Thibs gets to prove he can win in the playoffs with all the pieces of his own choosing in the West. The Bulls get the TWolves good stuff and improve team chemistry with Rubio in sync with Spanish national team co-starter Nikola Mirotic as well as the other Bulls scorers, and Derrick Rose can play 28 minutes full throttle a night with so many back-up friends on the team. Bulls get tighter at the wing with Dieng whom the Bulls always wanted anyway.

This trade scenario may not be as crazy as the Boston blockbuster trade but nevertheless, the Bulls get pace-and-space into gear with Hoiberg’s own draft pick when he was with the TWolves FO in Ricky Rubio. Let’s see who plays better for whom–Butler for Thibs or Rubio for Hoiberg.

Sacramento Kings 9th Pick

The Sacramento Kings were in negotiations with the Bulls at the trade deadline for Pau Gasol and Tony Snell but balked at releasing protection for the top 10 lottery pick they owe the Bulls this summer. If 2-way, All-Star Jimmy Butler is offered for a project player like 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein plus the 8th pick in the lottery, it might be a very good deal, especially if the Bulls offload Taj Gibson and Mike Dunleavy’s contract (plus Tony Snell) to sweeten the deal.

With the 8th pick the Bulls can pick either Dejounte Murray or Demetrius Jackosn as their point guard of the future and have a younger big take over Taj Gibson’s position in the Bulls frontline with late bloomer, Willie Cauley-Stein. Cauley-Stein may even learn Joakim Noah’s role as point center offense facilitator over time. The deal looks good because the Kings keep Boogie and surround him with players who can make up for his turnovers and missed shots, and still have him be the main offensive weapon, even helping the team make the playoffs with a better defensive build. Cauley Stein may even evolve into a Hassan Whiteside defensive stopper given that Cristiano Felicio and Bobby Portis clog the lane.

The Bulls can use their own 14th pick for another guard like 5-9 Tyler Ullis or a big man project like 6-10 Skal Labissiere.

Again, the steal in the draft in all of these Bulls trade scenarios for Jimmy Butler is possible generation player–Dejounte Murray–he is that good if you watch his highlight reel and imagine him running the team in the future with the Bulls current core of shooters. The Sacramento deal might look like the weakest the Bulls can wheel but it is still in the realm of possibility for a team that doesn’t want to lose DeMarcus Cousins and get an impact player to play with the embattled Cousins and help him win for them. The Bulls still free cap space by trading Butler and Taj enough to sign a good wing to replace Jimmy: like Nick Batum, whom they can woo as fellow Frenchman teammate of Joakim Noah and a strong Hoiball piece.

The worst that can happen for Chicago this year is to build the team around Jimmy Butler and throw away all the Hoiball offensive pieces in place around Derrick Rose and Joakiim Noah.

Do we really want to see the 1989 Deroit Pistons with Jimmy Butler as 2-way Mark Aguirre wannabe (stare-down shooter) or do we want to see the fastest guns in the East take over a Bulls stampede into the playoffs?

Never underestimate the change in gears that getting rid of Butler and Gasol will do for the team,

Losing Taj and Snell ( the Bulls really don’t want to lose Snell but if they can get Murray…BOOM ) may be worth the change of pace, the higher scoring opportunities for Mirotic and McDermott, and an unfettered Derrick Rose gunning for MVP stats again with the new kids and the max contract free agent the Bulls grab off trading Jimmy Butler–while he’s still worth all of these goodies.

Next: Laying the 2015-16 Bulls To Rest

The Bulls are Derrick’s team and will always be until the end of next season. Noah is the heart and soul of the Bulls and the locker room glue guy.

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