Jimmy Butler has been a star for the Chicago Bulls during the past two years, but unfortunately, Chicago won’t be making a deep playoff run with him at the helm. Ever.
March 13th, 2017 marked when the Chicago Bulls played against the Charlotte Hornets, desperate for a win after losing their previous five games.
Fortunately for the Bulls, Jimmy Butler poured in 23 points, six rebounds and 11 assists, as the Chicago won the game, 115-109. After struggling in the previous few games, Butler finally managed to have a strong outing.
The day after, Butler talked about the Bulls and his future with the team during an ESPN interview. When asked about the future, here’s what Butler had to say:
"Yes. I can’t see what tomorrow will bring, but I love it here… I feel like I owe the city the little amount of talent that I have on that basketball court. I love it here. I love these people. I want to be here."
The commitment is admirable. After all, the Bulls in his words, “took a chance on him” with the 30th pick in 2011, so he has a lot of love for the franchise. Unfortunately, despite the city’s love for the young star, he may receive a different message, thanks to incompetent management-runners Gar Forman and John Paxson.
The history between Butler and the front office has been evident for years. According to Ryen Russillo of ESPN radio, back in 2014, Butler was pressured into signing a contract extension by the front office.
"[A member of the] front office went to Butler [in 2014] and said, ‘If you don’t sign this extension, we’re going to play Tony Snell over you. We are going to give you his minutes, and that’s going to drop your minutes and numbers down."
More recently, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Butler warned other players of keeping their mouths shut in the locker room in front of certain coaches to prevent management from “spying” on them.
These incidents exemplify the tension that has formed between the Bulls organization and Butler. A poor relationship between a franchise’s star and the front office is one example of the many reasons why Butler leading the Bulls will not work.
All U Can Heat
To truly become a competitive team, the Bulls will need to acquire at least one more star player. As great as Butler and his 23.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game are, he has been incapable of carrying the Bulls team anywhere. As of March 29th, Chicago is 35-39 and sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Unsurprisingly, getting another star on board will be very difficult.
Despite the enlargened salary cap, there are very few high-caliber free agents available in the next two years. This upcoming summer, the hottest commodities on the market would theoretically be Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, but there really isn’t any doubt on where these players are going to sign.
The same can be said for just about every star in free agency. I mean, there’s a chance of signing Paul Millsap if he opts out of his contract, but is he really worth a maximum deal?
In 2018 free agency, the situation remains the same. Although Brook Lopez will be available, the Millsap problem arises again. Is Robin’s brother worth a max contract and is he good enough to get Chicago contending?
Realistically, the Bulls wouldn’t have a good shot at a star until the 2019 offseason when they could aim for Paul George, Russell Westbrook or DeAndre Jordan. However, Butler will have the option to opt out of his contract and become a free agent as well, so the situation would become complex.
It might be worth taking the risk of keeping Butler and waiting a couple of years before pursuing a big free agent, but the problem is that the Bulls would need to convince Butler to opt in or stay and also lure another star to play in Chicago (something that has proven to be difficult in recent years).
The risk just isn’t worth it.
Butler has made it clear since his first day in the league that he wants to win games. The next couple years with the Bulls will not bring wins.
During an All-Star Weekend shootaround this year, Butler discussed his desire for success.
"I don’t care if anyone wants to build around me, just win. At the end of the day, you win, everything’s fine. You’re built around; you’re not built around. Everybody’s happy, so all of that is just background noise. I just want to win at all costs."
If Chicago remains a mediocre team with several head-scratching losses each season, then it’s obvious that Butler won’t be happy. And his mood won’t get any better either thanks to his share of issues with management.
Frankly, it’s hard to blame Jimmy. His leadership has been questioned by the media and his teammates. The front office made it clear he’s on the trade block and he doesn’t seem to like (or listen to) head coach Fred Hoiberg.
All of this comes back to the idea of playing the long game with Butler. If the Bulls want to be contenders with Jimmy on the team, then they’ll have to convince him to stay in Chicago and find enough talent to surround him with to compete.
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Is that possible? Maybe, but it comes with the real possibility of having Butler walk away in 2019 for nothing.
Trading away a superstar is always a tough decision. For Chicago, it’s a decision that needs to be made.