After last season the Chicago Bulls entertained the idea of trading Jimmy Butler, one of the premier players in the NBA.

On draft night, the Bulls made a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves to part ways with Butler.  The Bulls acquired Zach LaVine, the G-F, who is recovering from an ACL injury to his knee.  He was sidelined most of the season and played in a small amount of games. The Bulls also received point guard Kris Dunn, the rookie, who did not make waves with Minnesota last season. Dunn is young, athletic, and plays without fear. At least he did that in college.

Chicago also got the number 7 draft pick, Lauri Markkanen, who played one year at the University of Arizona and was a big man with a soft touch from the outside.

The Bulls got younger in a hurry.  So much so, that they traded their second round pick, Jordan Bell, a power forward from University of Oregon to the Golden State Warriors for a cool $3.5 million dollars.

It is sad to see Jimmy Butler leave the Bulls. He became one of the best two-way players in the league. He had some off shooting nights, but would come right back and score 33 points, grab 12 rebounds, get 3 steals, and dish out 7 assists.  Those numbers became more the norm for Butler.  He gave you 36 great minutes of basketball.

Gar Forman, General Manager of the Bulls said,

“We (got) three young talented players. It gives us an opportunity to begin the process.”  Forman added, “This was the right deal to kickstart our rebuild.”

Forman is aware that this will be a “long process” for the team.  There are a lot of new faces on the roster. In fact, F Nikola Mirotic, who is expected to be re-signed by the Bulls, is the longest tenured Bulls player now, and he has been with the team for three years.

This trade has raised eyebrows in Chicago. Trade Jimmy Butler? The Bulls pulled the trigger. It is too soon to make a determination if this trade will work out for Chicago.  The Bulls made an investment.  We don’t yet know if it will yield dividends.