Jimmy Butler is making history. Meanwhile the Bulls are still stuck near the bottom
Jimmy Butler had an incredible first half against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, scoring 30 points on 9 of 10 field-goal attempts, 2 of 2 3-point attempts and 10 of 10 free throws. Butler finished the game with 34 points and five rebounds, leading to a 124–108 win for the Heat against an up-and-coming Suns team, bringing the Heat to 6–2.
The Heat were doubted by many analysts for lacking talent surrounding Butler but he has proven so far that he is enough to carry a team. The Heat currently are second in the entire East, while the Bulls are second from last in the Central Division. Butler’s team also has been prospering quite well without him, seeing that he missed the first three games, which were dedicated to the birth of his new child, Rylee.
Butler has had many ups in downs his career mainly stemming from his off the court issues from relationships with teammates and front offices. If you may have forgotten or were unaware, here is a timeline: Butler experienced lack of appreciation from the Bulls front office when he was offered a four-year, $40 million contract in 2014 after coming off a year where he had career highs in multiple stat categories and made Second Team All-Defense. Butler expressed his discomfort with the low-ball offer, and the Bulls front office countered by saying, “If you do not accept, we will cut your minutes this year and give them to Tony Snell.” Butler then has another breakout year in 2014-15 with the Bulls, winning Most Improved Player of the year, and the Bulls offered him a five-year $95 million contract.
Going into the 2015-16 season, Jimmy Butler had an excruciating time meshing his game with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah after Tom Thibodeau was fired. (Thibs was fired for not seeing eye-to-eye with management) There were many feuds among players with Fred Hoiberg as the coach, which led to the Bulls not making the playoffs that year. At the end of that season, Rose was traded to the New York Knicks, and Noah followed him there in free agency.
The 2016–17 season had a lot of drama, as well, creating a disproportionate team with the additions of Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade. After games, Wade and Butler were calling players out in news conferences and on social media about effort. Butler also made public comments about the coaching staff criticizing them for being snitches and telling any gossip heard from the players about management to back to the front office. Jimmy Butler said that the Bulls organization looks to get as much information from players that they possibly can to win the media war when a player leaves via trade or free agency. That summer, after the Bulls’ first-round playoff elimination, Butler was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the seventh overall pick, used to get Lauri Markkanen.
Fast forward to now, Butler has been balling. Last year, he made it all the way to the Eastern Conference semifinals with the 76ers as their closer. Meanwhile, the Bulls have been stuck near the bottom of the East each and every year trying to figure things out since he left. The Bulls haven’t made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals since 2015, when they played a Cavs team that had LeBron James.
Now, Fred Hoiberg is out of the equation, and Jim Boylen is here, but nothing has seemed to really change. The Bulls’ current record is 3–6 with several disappointing games where they have given up fourth-quarter leads causing losses. The Bulls have stat sheet fillers but the Bulls lack a leader on the floor, which they had in the past with Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose. (Both of them are leaders on their respective teams now and are doing better than the Bulls) The Bulls also seem to lack a competent coach which they had once with Tom Thibodeau. The only thing that stays the same is management.
Although looking in hindsight is easy to do and it would be easy to say Jimmy Butler should stayed. There were rumors that Jimmy Butler had some hostility and drama related to his leave from the 76ers as well. However, Butler is a special type of player that has passion and determination, and those qualities are very hard to find and matter more than any percentage or stat you can put together. You have to sacrifice in order to reach goals and achievements, and clearly, management has a hard time getting past their ego.
The Bulls have been winning the public relations battles, but they have been losing on the court. Before the season on media day, the Bulls announced their goals to be a playoff team. Fans can see the talent and potential in them, but costly inopportune mistakes have continued to spur with this Bulls team.
Boylen has been crucified by Bulls fans for his rotations and use of timeouts, and players have been ridiculed for lack of progression, bad shots, and turnovers over the first two weeks of the season. The October part of the schedule was supposed to be easy. This Bulls team cannot look at any team on the schedule and take them for granted.
Over the next two weeks, they will need to pull it together, or they will risk being stuck at the bottom long-term, or big changes might occur.
