With the Eastern Conference being wide open, it led me to think… Did the Chicago Bulls make a mistake when they traded Jimmy Butler? Should they have run it back one more year?
At the end of last season, it seemed like the Chicago Bulls were making the right move. Jimmy Butler was a superstar entering his prime, the 2017 draft was loaded, and it seemed like Lebron and Kyrie had a monopoly on the Eastern Conference. So why not trade him?
Well, let’s fast-forward to this season and look at what actually happened.
Kyrie decided it was time to be the big brother instead of the little brother and wanted to leave Cleveland so badly that he forced their hand and Cleveland was left in shambles.
Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving joined budding star Jaylen Brown and third overall draft pick Jayson Tatum in Boston. It looked like they might be favorites in the East if Lebron and Co. couldn’t make it work (spoiler alert: it’s not looking like they’ll make it work). But then Hayward got injured in the first game of the season and Kyrie ended up missing the entire playoffs due to injuries of his own.
Now let’s flashback to the end of last year.
The “Three Alphas” were seemingly starting to make it work behind the phenomenal play of “Playoff Rondo” as they took a 2-0 series lead against Boston. Then Rondo got hurt and the season was over.
“Playoff Rondo” is back in full effect this year for the Pelicans, Nikola Mirotic has really improved, and Dwyane Wade is… old. But he helped Miami a lot in the first-round against Philly even though they got bounced 4-1.
If the “Three Alphas” ran it back again, could they have made a run in the East?
I honestly think the answer is yes.
The Cavs are borderline hot garbage. They very well could’ve lost to a decent Pacers squad in the first round and I’m guessing they’ll lose to Toronto in the second round.
The Celtics haven’t been the same since Irving went down (this makes sense, nothing complicated here). They narrowly escaped a Bucks team that was really unimpressive, in my opinion. I think they’ll lose to Philly in the second round.
So then who are we left with?
The young and super talented 76ers, and the Raptors.
Granted the Raptors changed their identity this season, the Bulls have owned them in recent years. They wouldn’t scare me. Philly would definitely scare me, but the experience the Bulls would’ve brought into that series might have been enough to counter the skill that the 76ers have.
Then the question is: If they managed to come out of the East, would they have had a shot in the Finals? The answer is easy: absolutely not.
So was trading Jimmy Butler a mistake?
Just like the answer to my last question: absolutely not.
Sure, the Bulls would’ve had a fighting chance in the East, but the Warriors would’ve swept them in the Finals. Then where are they?
Butler would only have one year left on his deal which makes him way less attractive in any trade scenarios. This means they likely would’ve had to keep Butler and eventually offer him a max deal instead of letting him walk for nothing. Wade would’ve been way too old to contribute and the legend of “Playoff Rondo” would be another year closer to retirement.
So it’s sad to look at this season and realize that the Bulls would’ve actually had a chance in the East. But the other reality is that there were serious issues in the locker room. Those issues might have caused self-destruction before the playoffs even began.
Instead of riding that rollercoaster, the Chicago Bulls have a top-5 rookie (Lauri Markkanen), a young and athletic scorer (Zach LaVine), and a defensive-minded point guard (Kris Dunn). Plus, they’ll add two more first-round draft picks this season. Their future is unbelievably bright.
Next: Who had the better offseason trade?
It would’ve been really fun to see what the Bulls could’ve done in the East this year with Jimmy Butler, given how wide open it is. But the sad reality of the NBA is that the Bulls made the right decision. Maybe in five years we can all sit down and talk about the run they’ll go on in the Eastern Conference, and maybe even the Finals.