5 Positives From the 2016-17 Chicago Bulls

Apr 8, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) drives past Brooklyn Nets guard KJ McDaniels (14) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) drives past Brooklyn Nets guard KJ McDaniels (14) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Brooklyn Nets won 107-106. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
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Jimmy Butler, SG/SF, Chicago Bulls
Jan 29, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) reacts while sitting on the bench against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler carried the Bulls all the way here

The best part of the season was watching Butler be the monster that he is. He averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists and that line doesn’t even reflect his season well enough.

He had 11 games where he scored more than 35 points and carried his usual heavy load on defense. He helped settle the storm after the Instagram fiasco and led Chicago into the playoffs.

The Jimmy Butler Story is a great one, and is still developing. Should he lead the Bulls to an upset win in the playoffs it’ll be tough to keep him out of the top ten players in the league conversation. He’s been that good.

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Hopefully the front office wises up this summer and surrounds him with shooters. We saw what kind of level Harden was able to get to with a team built around him. If the front office is wise, they will take a similar approach with Jimmy.

The Bulls season was a long rocky road though there are positives to draw, even if they were overshadowed by most of the chaos that took place. Now that’s all in the past as the playoffs loom and the Bulls look to prove the doubters wrong.