Jimmy Butler would probably be totally cool with the Chicago Bulls exploring all their options this summer if one of those options didn’t, ostensibly, include tying him to a runaway trade rumor mill.
Allow K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune to explain:
For all the talk about how executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman made clear every option is on the table this summer, this is a front office that, historically, has preferred to build through the draft.
That’s why, despite Forman saying last month “we have to explore all options” when asked directly about committing to Butler as a franchise centerpiece, it still would be a surprise if the Bulls traded their two-time All-Star.
That comment didn’t sit well with Butler, sources said, merely adding to his growing wariness regarding Forman that stems from Butler feeling slighted during failed negotiations on his rookie extension. Butler ultimately rejected the Bulls’ four-year, $44 million offer, won Most Improved Player honors for 2014-15 and signed a five-year, $92.3 million deal with a player option for the final season last July.
I mean, Jimmy Butler has some legitimate qualms.
Yes, the Bulls are paying him a ton of money. And sure, recaps and reports on last season don’t paint him as the best locker room leader. But Jimmy Butler, 26, is the team’s lone superstar. For them to be so cavalier in public about his future, even if they leave plenty of room to read between the lines, is pretty freaking stupid and weird and arguably disrespectful.
The NBA is a business, but there is a fine line between keeping that in perspective and championing inexplicably destructive ignorance. And the Bulls, apparently, are content to walk that line regularly, often crossing it, never leaving it fully in the rear view.
