Nearly a decade later, here are the five most impactful Bulls, post-Jimmy Butler

The Chicago Bulls haven’t had a superstar talent on their roster since Jimmy Butler’s final Bulls season, the 2016-17 NBA season.  

By the time Butler was traded by the Bulls during the 2017 NBA offseason, he had already accomplished the following accolades in his first six NBA seasons, all with the Chicago Bulls:

• 2014-15 NBA Most Improved Player (MIP)

• Three-time NBA All-Defensive team selection

• Three-time NBA All-Star

• 2016-17 All-NBA third team selection

• Three NBA seasons league-ranked top-20 in points-per-game

• Four NBA seasons league-ranked top-20 in steals-per-game

Butler’s run of league-wide recognition has not been consistently or fully duplicated by any Bulls player since his departure from Chicago during the summer of 2017. 

However, without a doubt, there have been Bulls players since Butler who have created a meaningful, lasting impact in the franchise that should be remembered in a historical context.  

Here are five Bulls who have created the most Bulls franchise impact since the Jimmy Butler trade of 2017, in no particular order.

Lonzo Ball

For better or for worse, guard Lonzo Ball was a central figure in 35 games of the highest caliber of Bulls basketball that fans witnessed since Butler’s final 2016-17 “three alphas” Bulls season that ended in an anti-climatic first round playoffs series defeat to the Boston Celtics.

Ball was electrifying in a Bulls uniform during his initial 35 games with the franchise.  

What the Bulls initially got when they acquired Ball during the 2021 NBA offseason was a three-headed monster that was an unconscious three-point shooter posting 42.3% on 7.2 three-point attempts during the 2021-22 NBA regular season.  

Added to Ball’s three-point shooting was genius-level passing in transition and in half-court to fuel a high-octane Bulls offense that was 4th-ranked among all 30 NBA teams in terms of offensive efficiency going into the 2022 NBA All-Star Game break, according to NBA.com stats.

Most importantly, Ball was a stout perimeter defender, averaging 1.8 steals per game in his 2021-22 Bulls campaign.

Alex Caruso

For three seasons from 2021 to 2024, guard Alex Caruso was the heart and soul of the Chicago Bulls' defense, especially in light of Ball’s injuries that sidelined him from NBA action for two full NBA seasons.

Caruso earned two NBA All-Defensive Team selections, while also finishing league-ranked top-20 in steals-per-game during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 NBA regular seasons.

DeMar DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan overachieved tremendously in his first of three Bulls seasons, earning NBA All-Star and All-NBA team selections, while also finishing top-10 in NBA Most Valuable Player voting.  

DeRozan added another NBA All-Star Game selection to his Bulls resume during the 2022-23 NBA regular season, and a countless number of stunning fourth-quarter performances that dragged mediocre Bulls rosters into thrilling games they had no business winning. 

Culminating his high-impact stay in Chicago, DeRozan finished his three-season stint in Chicago, becoming the second-highest Bulls franchise career leader in points-per-game average (25.5) behind guard Michael Jordan.

Zach LaVine

There will always be a bittersweet dynamic to Zach LaVine’s eight seasons with the Chicago Bulls because of the dichotomy of LaVine’s individual growth and the Bulls' mostly mediocre to bad team performances throughout his Bulls tenure.  Nonetheless, LaVine’s franchise impact is cemented in history.

LaVine earned two NBA All-Star Game selections during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 NBA seasons, while also finishing league-ranked top-20 in points-per-game averages in six of his eight Bulls seasons.

Additionally, LaVine is the Bulls’ franchise career three-point volume leader in terms of attempts-per-game (7.0) and makes-per-game (2.7). 

Thaddeus Young

The impact Thad Young delivered to the Chicago Bulls transcended statistics to become an existential anchor for a rudderless Bulls locker room when he arrived in Chicago during the 2019-20 NBA season. 

That season, the Bulls' young locker room learning curve was compounded by an unfit-for-the-job head coach in Jim Boylen, and Young earned team captain status at the beginning of the season to bring order to the roster.  

Young did that, and more, once Billy Donovan replaced Boylen as Bulls head coach and transformed Young into a dynamic post passer, earning a career high 4.3 assists-per-game season average during the 2020-21 NBA season. 

The prolific nature of Young’s passing that season also earned the forward the nickname “Thagic Johnson” from the late great Bulls television color analyst Stacey King.

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