NBA Rumors: Jimmy Butler wats to re-sign with Bulls
By Josh Hill
Jimmy Butler is becoming a superstar player in the NBA, but can the Chicago Bulls hang onto him this summer or will they lose a piece of their championship puzzle?
The Chicago Bulls drafted Jimmy Butler in a draft where other players could have filled more immediate roles for the team. But a few years after being picked in the latter half of the first-round, Jimmy Butler is a budding superstar — but he’s a player without a contract beyond this season.
The Bulls failed to cone to terms with Butler this past fall on a contract extension, and he will be hitting free agency when the season ends. Already, teams like the Lakers, Knicks and others have shown an obvious interest in Butler, but the Bulls can still control things thanks to one major factor.
According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Jimmy Butler wants to stay with the Chicago Bulls and re-sign this summer. The only snag in that plan is the front office not giving Butler what he wants — which was a hang up last October when a contract extension wasn’t reached.
If the Bulls want to keep Butler, they’re going to have to do much better than the offer they gave him in late 2014. Butler decided, wisely, to bet on himself and has played his way into a max contract this season and has solidified his status as a rising star with his postseason dominance.
Butler is widely regarded as the sidekick Derrick Rose has needed since 2010-11, when the Bulls last made it to the Conference Finals and were out-hustled by the Heat in five games.
Since then, Rose has battled a variety of injuries and has been in need of someone to play along side him both offensively and defensively. Rip Hamilton wasn’t the answer, Marco Belinielli wasn’t the answer and neither was Kirk Hinrich returning.
But with Butler, the Bulls have a superstar tandem that could take them from being a team on the brink of a title to a dynasty like that rivals the Jordan era. That all lives and dies with Jimmy Butler’s contract and which team’s name is at the top of it when next season tips off.