The Chicago Bulls shocked the NBA world during draft day back in June when they traded All-NBA guard Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Butler had been on the trade block for a while, but most figured Chicago would hang on to him as the centerpiece to the team’s rebuild. That didn’t happen. Instead, the Bulls decided to go with a complete rebuild by moving on from Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo.
In talking about his time and departure from Chicago, Butler himself just recently had some interesting things to say about Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg.
“I probably did a lot of things that they didn’t like — like maybe the way I would talk to my peers or coaches. People don’t work as hard as I do,” Butler said, via ESPN. “They don’t expect the same things out of the game that I do. And I said from the beginning it was either gonna be me or the Fred Hoiberg route. And rightfully so, they took Fred (Hoiberg).”
It’s the first time Butler has noted publicly that he forced the Bulls into making a decision between him and Hoiberg. To say the relationship was strained would be an understatement.
Minnesota finds itself with a 7-3 record heading into Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. On the other hand, Chicago is 2-7 on the season. It’s rather obvious that Butler’s departure from the Windy City has played a major role in the fortunes of these two teams.