During last
night’s NBA Draft a surprising trade happened. All-Star Jimmy Butler was traded
from the Chicago Bulls to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Bulls traded Jimmy
Butler & the #16 overall pick (C Justin Patton from Gonzaga) to the
T-Wolves for the #7 overall pick (PF Lauri Markkanen from Arizona) G Kris Dunn,
& G Zach Lavine.
Many people of criticized &
ridiculed the Bulls for making such a move but I personally feel differently. I
feel it was a move a year in the making. To look at it in a non-bias honest
view it was time for the Bulls to start over and rebuild the franchise instead
of the plug & play method that hasn’t proven to be successful in past
seasons. The Bulls as currently constructed weren’t really a true contender in
the conference. The front office felt it was time to move the team in a new
direction and free up salary cap space so they can contend in the 2018 free
agency class as well as build the team from the ground up. They may not have
that sure all-star two-way player in Jimmy Butler but, for the future but it
was needed to move the franchise in a different direction. As a diehard fan, I’d
rather not be so competitive now in order to build for future success. Such
moves as these are needed as much as it may sting to take a franchise in a new
direction.
This does leave a lot of questions
going forward for the Bulls. What’s going to happen with Rajon Rondo, Dwyane
Wade, & Restricted Free Agent Niko Mirotic. The drafting of PF Lauri
Markkanen leaves the future of Niko as a Bull in question. In my opinion, he
& Markkanen play a similar style. Both are stretch big who can play a
little bit in the post & lack defensive skill. Zach Lavine brings a wing
with a developing jump shot and supreme athleticism who can drive to the basket
& finish amongst the trees. He doesn’t have anywhere near the defensive
skills that can offset the loss of Jimmy Butler on that end of the floor. The
question with Lavine is can he be healthy enough to start the season coming off
a torn ACL in February. Kris Dunn didn’t have necessarily the best rookie
season last year having limited playtime behind PG Ricky Rubio. He still has a
great deal of upside & potential & is also still very young at 23 years
old. With the incoming of Dunn will the Bulls option to keep Rondo’s $14
million salary and let Dunn develop under him or give Dunn the keys right off
the back? With D-Wade exercising his $24 million player option, Will the Bulls
elect to keep the salary or amnesty his money from the salary cap? These are
questions to be answered by future moves of the Bulls as free agency approaches.
The Timberwolves with this trade can
potentially become a contending team in the west and could make the playoffs
for the first time since the 2003-04 season the longest current drought in the
NBA between playoff appearances. The addition of Jimmy Butler along with Karl
Anthony-Towns, Andrew Wiggins, & Ricky Rubio under the guidance of Head
Coach Tom Thibodeau makes the T-Wolves a much stronger team. Butler gives the
Wolves a defender that can defend the perimeter and give them a huge 3rd
scoring option to pair with the pass first mentality of Ricky Rubio. The move makes
them into a top 6 team in the Western Conference. With Jimmy’s mentality on the
defense end along with Thibs defensive wizardry that can tremendously improve
them defensively. The draft pick of big C Justin Patton can also help this team
improve defensively as he adds a low-post defensive presence. I personally like
their chances in the Western Conference next season. Don’t Be surprised if they
become a top 5 seed.
