Bulls Have Long Way To Go In Proving They Won Jimmy Butler Trade
On Saturday, a Woj bomb dropped.
And I responded with this:
After all, there were quite a few people who hated what the Bulls did that night. Now, Butler has gone from a drama-filled situation in Minnesota to making Philadelphia a legit contender in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Bulls have a young star in Lauri Markkanen, a high-scoring threat in a healthy Zach LaVine and a potential long-term point guard in Kris Dunn. Looks pretty good from this side of the Mississippi River, right?
Well, let’s take a step back before letting Gar Forman and John Paxson print up those “Told ya so” T-shirts. The Timberwolves made the playoffs last season, but the Bulls remain in rebuilding mode. Though we can say the Bulls won the trade in that they’ll have used their acquired assets longer, we need more results. That’s why the front office must continue to draft well, and the coaches need to develop the current players.
But we’re not here to talk about the overall direction of the team. These three players are the focus, and two of them are injured. LaVine is fourth in the NBA in scoring at 27.4 points a game, but the risk to re-injure his knee and become less than what he was always will be there. Just ask Jabari Parker.
It might even be unfair to judge Markkanen and Dunn on their progress this season unless everything they do when they come back goes off without a hitch. Most likely, they’ll have their difficulties in playing catch-up with their teammates and the rest of the league, especially Dunn. Questions already persisted before he went down, and his injury will put him at more of a disadvantage. And even if Markkanen looks like half the player he was last season, this is a Markkanen who’s rehabbing while still learning how to play with a more muscular body.
The short answer is we still won’t know the full value of this trade for some time. We need a period of sustained success to some degree to make a fair judgment. For all we know, the trade could go to Hell on this side of the aisle, too. Maybe not this year or even next, but somewhere down the line.
Enjoy this small victory for now if it gets you through these trying times in Bulls Nation. Heck, I indirectly called it that at the beginning of this post and with the shared tweet. Still, let’s not lose sight of what needs to happen for this to be a real win. It might turn into a draw, which means Bulls fans would lose bragging rights.
While you process all this, I’m headed to tonight’s game at the United Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Though I haven’t left yet, I can tell you of a few interesting sights I’ll experience just in case you didn’t hear or merely forgot. First, Ryan Arcidiacono will get the start over Cameron Payne at point guard. Second and definitely not least, those sick City Edition uniforms will make their debut, and how could you not want to buy a whole bunch of these right now?
