1) Former Chicago Bulls fans want back for Christmas
Among all of the moves that the GarPax regime made over the course of the last five or 10 years, the one that they should most regret was not trying to build around star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler. After coming off a season where he took the Miami Heat, as the Cinderella story in the East, to the NBA Finals, “Jimmy G. Buckets” is once again an MVP contender this year.
GarPax traded Butler to the Timberwolves back during the 2017 offseason. What they got in return was the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft (resulting in power forward Lauri Markkanen), point guard Kris Dunn (now with the Hawks), and shooting guard Zach LaVine. Maybe they got something solid out of Lauri and LaVine in the end. But we haven’t seen that return as of yet.
Meanwhile, Butler continues to show that he is one of the premier two-way talents in the NBA today. During the shortened 2019-20 regular season, Butler played in 58 games for the Heat (all of which he started in). He was just as good for them in the playoffs as he was in the regular season too.
Last season, he averaged 19.9 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks. Butler shot 46.7 percent from the field, 24.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.4 percent from the free-throw line. Those stats helped him notch his fifth career NBA All-Star selection, fourth All-Defensive Team nod, and third All-NBA Team selection.