Thank god. I genuinely think we would have regretted it hard had we given up the 2017 Brooklyn 1st for a non-superstar like Butler. The pick has a chance to be a superstar and Butler wouldn't have gotten us over the hump. We sure as hell could have regretted it had we given up the pick for a 1.3 year rental of Paul George before he flees to the Lakers.
Then when you consider the rumor that Indy wasn't just asking for the Brooklyn pick, but also 3 of the 4 following players: Smart, Jaylen, Bradley and Crowder... it would have been downright moronic for us to make that move.
Neither CHicago or Indy was ever serious about making a deal. They just wanted to see if they could fleece the Celtics into giving up 50 bucks on the dollar for a guy doesn't improve you enough to beat the Golden State Globetrotters.
Fans will be upset, because they are impatient, want "action", don't understand big picture ramifications, the fact that the 2017 Brooklyn 1st has a reasonable chance to be a better player than Butler, don't realize we have a significant chance to sign a major free agent this summer, and don't realize that we wouldn't necessarily even be a better team by making a deal.
People are dramatically undervaluing how great Bradley and Crowder have been this year. I wouldn't have been surprised to see either average 20+ points playing on a bad team like Chicago. They are great defenders and two of the most efficient shooters in the league this season. Taking the ball out of Thomas hands late in the game makes no sense right now. He's been terrific. I really don't think adding one of those name brand stars would have improved us as much as people think. They don't address our needs at all.
So glad our team didn't make a foolish short-sighted decision. It's a major relief.
Scoff at the dream of the Brooklyn 1st, but I genuinely believe the odds of that pick ending up a better player than Butler are greater than the odds a guy like Butler helps us beat Golden State during his 5 year window.
FWIW, It sounds like Bogut will be bought out and I'm pretty sure Golden State can't sign him (having traded him less than a year ago). So I imagine we'll be one of the teams he'll consider. He's a good fit here. That's all we really need to make a good-faith run at a playoff push this year.
