The long NBA off-season has arrived with the ouster of the Chicago Bulls by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a tough second round series.

However, accolades have come to players on the Bulls roster.  Jimmy Butler was just named to the 2nd All-Defensive NBA team.  Butler who regularly guarded the opposing team’s best offensive players–  he also did a great job on LeBron James, holding him to one of his worst offensive outputs in a playoff series, had an excellent season.  He was also named the League’s Most Improved Player several weeks ago.

Butler was not able to reach a deal on a contract extension with the Bulls just before the season started. He is now in a very good position to earn a larger contract, hopefully from the Bulls.

Nikola Mirotic was named to the first team all Rookie team.  Mirotic joined Andre Wiggins, Rookie of the Year, to the exclusive company. Mirtoic finished 2nd to Wiggins in Rookie of the Year balloting.

Still no official word on the status on Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. Word out of Chicago is there will be a parting of the ways between coach and management but the details remain to be worked out.

Right now, it’s a wait and see situation.