Jimmy Butler Trade Scenarios for the Chicago Bulls

A report from Ric Bucher hit Bleacher Report on Thursday afternoon. The buzz was that “league sources” said the Chicago Bulls were shopping Jimmy Butler. That seems absurd.

I didn’t link the article because I didn’t read it.

It’s not that I think Butler couldn’t ever be traded, it’s that I don’t think Gar Forman or John Paxson has the fortitude to dare attempt such a deal. Not only that, but it seems like they’d probably butcher the deal and send him packing for something like Tyson Chandler and a second-round pick.

Bucher generally seems to be on his game, but whatever league source had this tidbit to share seems to be two things: Not in the Bulls organization and likely someone who either wants to mess with Chicago or wants Butler.

There were three people I could see making that call. First, David Griffin of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s not only proven to be a great general manager for the Cavs, but he keeps pulling the strings and messing with people. They can take care of the Bulls in the playoffs, when it is most important, but Chicago really makes life hard for them most of the time. This seems like the perfect prank to most an already turbulent situation all the bumpier for the Bulls front office.

Second, Danny Ainge might have just snapped and finally got tired of building a team that is still considerably behind the Cavaliers, despite hitting on Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and big free agent prize Al Horford. They still need more and splashing a huge offer for Butler might finally push them into the conversation. Or, at least we could have an Eastern Conference Finals that won’t be a sweep.

Third, Jim Buss. Rumor is that he’s out at the end of the year because the Lakers didn’t win a title or whatever. There are a whole bunch of players they could chase in free agency or via trade. Prepping that by dangling some kind of mid-level package for Butler seems believable.

Anyway, we’re all blessed that Sean Highkin of The Athletic Chicago was quick to cite his own Bulls sources, who refuted the report that the team was indeed shopping Butler.

Honestly, it feels like we’ve already written about this a dozen times, but if you were going to start selling off parts, you’d start with getting Rajon Rondo out of town, then get Taj Gibson on his way, followed by Dwyane Wade and/or Nikola Mirotic if they don’t plan to resign Niko, and then you make the big move and go all in by finding homes for both Butler and Robin Lopez. Those are the two best pieces they have to work with and could probably bring the most significant returns.

It isn’t happening, but here are a couple of trade ideas for Butler. If we’re already in Make Up Random Rumors season, might as well keep it 100.

Dec 13, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) reacts after making a basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at the United Center. Minnesota defeats Chicago 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and the Minnesota Timberwolves

Yes, we’re going to start with the low-hanging fruit of the Timberwolves. Minnesota is being run by Tom Thibodeau, the ex-Chicago head coach, and it was all the rage to get caught up in the Wolves making a trade with the Bulls on draft night that was going to bring Jimmy to the Twin Cities to join his former coach.

Of course, that didn’t happen. Because Butler isn’t a player Chicago would want to trade unless they had completely given up on everything and already moved several other recently acquired pieces of this roster.

But, again, this is based off a report that seems to be based outside of reality so let’s enjoy the trip.

It’s a really hard trade scenario. There are a lot of people on the internet who don’t value Butler very highly and there are others who want to ask for the world. I fall on the side of those who think the only thing you can’t ask for is a player better than Butler or an integral piece of a contender or team that intends to be a contender.

Basically, there’s about 15 players in the league right now that you couldn’t get if you dangled Butler. There are another 10-15 guys who are either first or second year guys that you might not get or it might be hard to work a deal for one of them because of what it costs in the long run.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of those guys. He’s untouchable in any trade the Bulls can offer.

Now, I know that any possible Wolves fan reading this is going to want to throw their computer, phone, tablet, laptop or any combination of the mentioned at the wall when they read this.

Butler and the 2017 Kings pick for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, Shabazz Muhammad and the Wolves 2017 first-round pick.

Look, I get it. I like both teams. I only live about an hour from the Twin Cities and I’m excited that they’ve got a great core of young players. Towns is the most exciting thing since pre-Celtics Kevin Garnett. But Timberwolves fans need to hear me, you may not be interested in this trade, but it makes your team better. Also, for all the fun of having young players, Minnesota is going to have to make some sacrifices and hard decisions to improve their squad and put themselves in a position to compete in the West. Butler can do that, but he’s going to cost the Wolves a lot.

Because he’s one of the best players in the league. There’s a reason that he’s right behind or ahead of fellow Eastern Conference forwards LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo in a bunch of key stats. A lot of people are sleeping on Antetokounmpo. A lot of people are also still sleeping on Butler, despite his great successes. He’s 27 years old, on an incredibly affordable contract that runs through 2019, and he’s just now finally starting to peak.

I could be convinced that some of these pieces could be interchangeable. I believe the Bulls, in this hypothetical, should definitely be asking for either Andrew Wiggins or LaVine, either Dunn or Jones, the upcoming Wolves pick and maybe one other piece like Muhammad or Gorgui Dieng. These are great young players, but as a Wolves enjoyer with many Minnesota fan friends and acquaintances, they are over-valuing them in comparison to Butler.

Nov 2, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard / forward Jimmy Butler (21) is guarded by Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart (36) during the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and the Boston Celtics

Look, it really feels like Ainge, the Celtics general manager, has really wanted to finally turn some assets into the real deal. They already locked up Horford, bringing in Jimmy makes them the only team in the East that can steal two or three games off Cleveland in a seven-game series.

This is the other team that was in every rumor around Chicago on draft night. They have players and an abundance of picks. So, what gives?

Again, just like Timberwolves fans, I feel like a strong reaction is forthcoming from the Boston faithful. And again, I understand. But you must give up what a player commands and Butler commands a great deal more than pretty much any fan of another team would want to admit.

Butler goes to Boston. In return, the Celtics send over Avery Bradley, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and the Nets 2017 first-round pick.

Boston can try to build a contender, but that isn’t why you sign Horford. They can try to build a contender, but that isn’t why they look for trades for picks and/or young players. The Celtics can be a contender right now, a contender that can push Cleveland to the limit. They need Butler to get there. Brad Stevens is a great coach, but he doesn’t have a player like Butler because there are very few players like Jimmy in the world of basketball.

There’s an upside for Boston in this deal. They got to keep Jae Crowder. Now, Celts fans might not want Crowder all that much, given their open cheering for Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz or their squawking over his comments that expressed displeasure at their favoring of an opposing player. But the trade isn’t set up so that Butler and Crowder share minutes at the same spot. You either let Jimmy go back to being a guard, with a Thomas-Butler-Crowder-Horford-Olynyk (or whoever) lineup, or you pull the trigger on any other deal in exchange for Crowder. They would acquire Butler and still have the ability to make more significant moves or have an extremely solid starting five.

If reading this seems crazy, imagine what it was like with this bouncing around in my head for days. The point I keep trying to make is that Butler is worth whatever the Bulls can ask for and whatever the other team in the deal can offer.

Mar 31, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) dribbles the ball during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and the Houston Rockets

There is no reason to think that the Rockets would ever be interested in making a deal for Butler. Except that nothing is off the table if Butler is available. They are one of the few teams in the West that could make a move for Butler while being a contender and could somehow strengthen their position without having to compromise all that much.

This is a total reach, but also very fun to think about. Houston has been absolutely electric for stretches this season and they’re going to be real trouble for whoever has to deal with them in the playoffs.

Jimmy Butler and Isaiah Canaan to the Rockets. Eric Gordon, K.J. McDaniels, Tyler Ennis and Sam Dekker to Chicago.

The idea here is that Gordon provides immediate offense, McDaniels hasn’t show much, but might emerge, Ennis is just as viable an option at point guard as Rondo – I completely believe this – and Dekker is yet another pace and space young gun.

It’s a pretty weak trade and I actually don’t like it for the Bulls, but what would it look like if Houston had Butler, Beverly and Harden on the court 37 minutes a night. Maybe it’s a terrible idea. Probably is a terrible idea.

We’re starting to get into a bit shallower water, but I think we can find one or two more trades for Butler out there that would at least be fun to talk about.

Nov 30, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) dribbles the ball against Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and the Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are fascinating right now. They’ve got a lot of potential talent and a possibly great coach, though not proven yet, in Luke Walton.

Butler would be just be on a whole new level with the Lakers. Imagine the crowd’s response if he had dropped 52 in purple and gold against the Kings. It would be chaos, it would be a dream, it would between Hollywood Butler.

He’d be great out there and Walton wants to run a fast offense that puts up shots, similar to what Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg has lucked into from time to time with the Bulls. He’d be a great leader for guys like D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle. Plus, he’d be reunited with former Bull, Luol Deng.

It just sets up so nicely for everyone in this situation. Well, no it doesn’t. For the sake of salary, I had to trade Jordan Clarkson instead of Russell, and included Larry Nance, Jr. and Ivica Zubac. Bulls get three young guys, all capable of playing faster than what Hoiberg currently has going on. Zubac and Cristiano Felicio would make quite the young tandem at center for Chicago and that would free them up to look for great offers on Lopez.

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I’d also require the Lakers to throw in a draft pick, a good one. If you could get all of that back in return for Butler, you undersold him, but also retooled your team with a whole bunch of young and a draft pick. It’s ugly, but it is also the road the Bulls will have to take if they ever intend to return to contention on the foundation of a solid young core that was grown and raised in the United Center.

It’s just too hard to create a trade that makes any kind of sense. The Bulls would already be in a tough spot with too many players coming back in the deal, though they could remedy that by waiving Rondo with a quickness. Also, you’d rather they demand Russell, despite Clarkson being a great player, because of his higher ceiling. The problem is that you can’t match salaries that way and you’d be forced to look at adding a fourth player which would make it even hard to find the fight fit because Chicago would have to look at adding another player to the deal.

Let’s look at one more potential deal for Butler.

Nov 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) dunks the ball against Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) and forward Dario Saric (9) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and the Philadelphia 76ers

It’s getting to that point where the barrel is being scraped for potential Butler trades. To be honest, he commands a massive return and there are very few teams with the expendable and highly-valued assets needed to make the deal work.

Those teams are pretty much the Timberwolves, Celtics and 76ers. And there is no reason to believe that Philadelphia has any interest in breaking up their core or sacrificing draft picks, even for Butler.

However, it really isn’t that ridiculous to consider. The Sixers have all the youth and they have issues with some of their players, namely Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel. Someone needs to be moved and Philly just must be dying to get their hands on some established or even top-tier players. Butler is as top tier as it gets in the trade market. You won’t find Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Steph Curry or Damian Lillard out here.

This trade is a little less exciting, but it would be a borderline transfer of The Process from the 76ers to Chicago, something I’ve called for the Bulls to dive into before.

Chicago can send out Jimmy Butler and some kind of protected draft pick, but they get Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric and the Sixers 2017 first-round pick. Yup. A troubled, but talented center gets to go home to Chicago, they also add a talented European power forward which is something they’ve already one before, and they get themselves up to the top of the lottery with a shot at grabbing Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball or Dennis Smith, among others. If they could trade Butler for a center, power forward and a draft pick that would turn into a point guard this summer, it would be a huge get.

The Bulls would be a long way from contending, but they could also be looking at a starting lineup that includes McDermott, Ball, Okafor and Saric. That’s not a bad group of players to try to build around. It’s a gamble, but so is every option on this list.

And that’s the real point here – Butler is a sure thing. He’s the real deal. You don’t have to wait and see, he’s already proven he’s one of the best in the NBA at the wing. He’s on a very friendly and relatively cheap deal given his skill and the rising salary cap.

Don’t take Butler for granted, don’t believe every rumor that he’s going to be traded. Likewise, don’t underestimate the value of Jimmy or what a player of that skill could bring to Chicago in return if the front office finally decides on the future of this team and doesn’t see them as a contender. It’s going to be a lot of fun between now and the trade deadline in February.