Here we move back to a player that Jim Boylen was around during his time as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls. At that time, the Bulls were trying to make headway in the East but weren’t having much luck doing so. The Bulls were mostly passed up by superstar forward LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Back in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the Bulls were trying to build the coaching staff around former Iowa State Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg. But the Hoiberg-coaching regime never caught on in the Windy City, and players like star small forward Jimmy Butler had to suffer because of it.
It’s hard to argue that the two best seasons in the NBA to date for “Jimmy Buckets” weren’t during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 regular seasons with the Bulls. He was an All-Star selection both seasons. His best year between those two was in 2016-17 when he averaged 23.9 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals.
Jimmy Butler was seen having dinner with Jim Boylen in Chicago. Would you like to see Jimmy Buckets return to the Bulls? #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/FVSlG9hzBM
— Bulls Nation (@BullNationCHI) May 21, 2019
Apparently Butler and Boylen are still friends. There was a weird rumor that emerged that there could be a slight bit of traction in free agency between Butler and the Bulls when he met with Boylen at a restaurant in Chicago earlier this offseason. Nothing proved to be true there, and it really looks like Boylen and Butler are just friends.