Jimmy Butler reveals why he has trust issues

Has there ever been a more eventful beginning of the calendar year in terms of NBA drama than 2017? LeBron ethered Charles Barkley after Barkley accused him of being whiney and telling him to deal with having the highest payroll in the league. The slow, very public (almost) divorce of Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks continues to take strange turns. No one knows how our newest president’s travel ban will affect players going forward. Finally, the Chicago Bulls locker room has turned Rajon Rondo into a voice of reason.

Speaking of that last “beef,” we now have a valid reason why Butler and the Bulls’ front office have been at each other’s throats over the past couple years.

I can almost hear some old Drake tracks playing in the background as Butler stews over his hatred. This story is incredible for many reasons but let’s break it down into two.

Tony Snell? Really?

So we’re supposed to believe that the infamous duo of General Manager Gar Forman and Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson is even more incompetent than previously thought? The story goes that Butler was requesting more than Gar/Pax’s preferred offer of four-years for $44 million and, if Butler didn’t accept it, they were going to give his minutes to noted Kawhi Leonard lookalike — fun fact: they went to the same high school — Tony Snell?

I have quite a few problems with this but the simple facts seem to check out. Snell was getting low rotation minutes for the Bulls and if Gar/Pax really wanted to depress the market for Butler, this could do it on a surface level. There’s only one problem. Most NBA front offices are very astute when it comes to evaluating talent, and even if the Butler did lose minutes, it’s hard to believe teams would only look at his surface stats, ignore the drop in minutes, and determine that Butler wasn’t a max contract worthy player.

Secondly, how in the name of the Basketball Gods did Gar/Pax think Tom Thibodeau was going to agree to this. It is indeed this situation that allegedly endeared Butler more to Thibs and grew them closer together. According to Russilo’s story, Thibs quickly squashed this idea and kept developing Butler, which ultimately allowed him to become what he is today, a general consensus top 15 player in the NBA. It does beg the question of what would have happened with Butler had a weaker coach, say someone who sold his house to Forman after his playing days, would have been in charge.

What now?

Now that we know why Butler is continually sketched out by his front office, it makes sense why he takes Dwyane Wade’s side on most issues. Wade is no stranger to taking a pay cut for the good of the team and it’s not hard to imagine the conversations between the two Chicago stars about front office conspiracy theories. All this has done is distract us from how truly strange this NBA season has been for multiple teams.

Despite the turmoil around Chicago for the past week or so, the Bulls are still the seventh seed in the East and sit at No. 10 in team defensive rating. If the Bulls can find a way to float around the No. 6 or 7 seed and avoid a first-round matchup with Cleveland, they could even make it into the second round of the playoffs despite fielding a team that goes against every basic tenet that coach Fred Hoiberg prizes.

Next: Why are the Hornets fading so badly?

But whether they do make a playoff push or flame out after all-star break and fall into the lottery, I have a sneaking suspicion that one song will be on Butler’s mind every time he hears a question about the front office.