The Bulls finished 42-40 this past regular season and failed to qualify for the playoffs. A profound disappointment. Their leading scorer was shooting guard Jimmy Butler, who in 67 games played averaged 20.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 36.9 minutes per outing. Butler is also the team’s most valuable asset should management decide to make big trades, blow this whole thing up and rebuild the squad from scratch. Will it happen? Here’s the Chicago Tribune with the latest:
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It might be time to hold off on those Jimmy Butler trade rumors.
In a sign of commitment not present at management’s season-ending postmortem, the Bulls have asked their two-time All-Star to represent the franchise on the dais at the May 17 NBA draft lottery, sources said.
Butler, who has been working out in Los Angeles, is headed back to Chicago soon. He then is scheduled to travel to New York and join longtime media relations official Matt Yob, who will be the Bulls’ presence in the lottery’s backroom.
The Bulls, sitting 14th as the non-playoff team with the best record, have just an 0.5 percent chance at the top pick and a 1.8 percent chance to move into the top three.
