Bulls looking very dysfunctional again.
Bucks are outclassing them at the moment after already beating them twice this year, and Rondo has been benched this entire Milwaukee game. Hoiberg is already on the hot seat, though just as many people are calling for Gar and Paxson to be removed due to this terrible fitting team they've put together.
With Butler's tumultuous relationship with management and the fact that he's been shopped before, the Bulls might very well shop him again at the deadline if they don't pick things up. They'll be out of the playoffs for now if they lose to the Bulls tonight, and the Pacers, Pistons, and Magic are all right there with the Bulls fighting to be in the playoffs, let alone the Wizards, Knicks, and Bucks above them.
It's definitely possible, but if the Bulls decide to ship Butler I think it would be next summer. Not this January-February.
Bulls still in the hunt so I'd think unless the Bulls have an absolutely horrible January, Butler is staying. Otherwise, it makes zero sense signing Wade and Rondo this off season...
It seems like the Bulls were very close to trading Butler to Minnesota on Draft Night though, but they wanted a certain asset Minny thought was "untouchable" in a sense... which is why it never happened.
Schedule until February trade deadline:
vs. Hornets
@ Cavs
vs. Raptors
vs. Thunder B2B
@ Wizards B2B
@ Knicks
vs. Pelicans B2B
@ Grizzlies B2B
vs. Mavs
@ Hawks B2B
vs. Kings B2B
@ Magic B2B
vs. Hawks B2B
vs. Heat
vs. 76ers
@ OKC
@ Rockets
@ Kings
@ Warriors
@ Suns
@ Wolves
vs. Raptors
vs. Celtics
That's a pretty rough schedule until the deadline, so it's certainly possible. They play 14 games versus opponents .500 or better, and 8 of them are away from home.
EDIT: We apparently turned down an offer of Crowder, Brown (the Brooklyn pick anyways), and the 2017 Brooklyn pick for Butler at the draft. I've got to say, I'd probably have to do that deal at the moment.
I wouldn't do that deal. Crowder is having a great year, Brown has shown a lot to indicate he'll be a very good player before long, and obviously the Brooklyn pick this year is fantastic. Butler over Crowder and Brown might make us a slightly better team this year, but if so, I don't think it'd be by much, and certainly wouldn't make us any more of a contender, as our Achilles heel of defensive rebounding wouldn't be helped. We'd just be a better version of this good, but not Championship-level team this year. At that price, no way, as it would cost us our best trade pieces to get the big we need more than anything.
Don't get me wrong, I like Butler. But he's not taking us over the top. That package is for a championship player.
I wouldn't do it by itself unless we had another trade lined up for a big, because, like you said, Butler (or PG for that matter) wouldn't put us over the top himself. However, I think adding someone like Noel to that group certainly would make us a legitimate contender with his extra rebounding, rim protection, and athleticism in the lineup.
And I think we'd be even better off if we could replace Bradley for Crowder in that trade, which would help us financially in the future (2018 summer) along with giving us extra size in the starting lineup. Of course, I'm not sure of AB's value compared to Crowder's value. I think AB is the overall better player, but Crowder's contract is in a much better position. However, Crowder and Brown would also be redundant a bit since they're both 3's, and that's not to mention the fact that they already have McDermott and Valentine at those positions. So I wonder if they would even prefer the 2018 Brooklyn pick over Brown, which I'd be fine with.
So let's just say AB, Brown, and the 2017 Brooklyn swap for Butler, and Rozier, Young, and the Memphis pick for Noel.
PG: IT, Smart, Jackson
SG: Butler, Green
SF: Crowder, JJ
PF: Horford, KO, Mickey
C: Noel, Amir
That roster has the potential to be a historically good defensive team, along with being still relatively young and offensively gifted. I actually think I like this scenario better than any Cousins trade scenario, which has the potential of always backfiring with his potential character concerns.
Would you do a trade under such a scenario? We'd still keep either Brown or the 2018 Brooklyn pick in this scenario, while also staying relatively young. The thing is, as you've said elsewhere, we're not going to have room for any free agents after this coming summer, which is why I'm so on board with making trades now, even for restricted free agents like Noel. There's really not many other ways to significantly improve our team at the moment.
