4. Bulls trade Jimmy Butler and Jerian Grant to the Timberwolves for Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine and a first-round pick
We heard rumors back in February that Timberwolves head coach and chief decision maker Tom Thibodeau was attempting to acquire his former Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose in a trade with the New York Knicks. While that never panned out, these rumors did include Minnesota sending Rubio packing to New York.
If that’s the case, why wouldn’t Thibs now look to swap Rubio and a couple valuable assets for yet another former player of his? It simply makes too much sense from Minnesota’s standpoint.
Butler would slide in at the two and team up with promising young point guard Kris Dunn in Minnesota’s backcourt. That would be a mighty nice tandem right there. Add in Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in the froncourt, and the playoffs wouldn’t seem as a pipe dream.
And considering three of the four players we mentioned above are 23 or younger, Butler’s veteran presence could make for immediate contention out west.
From a Bulls perspective, it’s rather clear that they are looking to potentially make dramatic changes this offseason. That could very well come in the form of trading a player in Butler, who might want out of town. Butler had previously set up an off-season meeting with Chicago’s brass to figure out the direction of the team. He was also linked to potential trades during February’s deadline.
There doesn’t seem to be a better time to trade Butler than right now. Coming off yet another sensational season that saw him average a career-best 23.9 points per game, Butler’s trade value is at an all-time high.
Under this scenario, Chicago gets a point guard and a shooting guard of the future. Rubio improved leaps and bounds this past regular season, averaging career bests in points per game (11.1) and assists per game (9.1). He also shot a personal best 40 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old LaVine had taken his game to an entirely new level prior to suffering a torn ACL back in early February. Here’s a guy that was averaging 18.9 points while shooting at a 39 percent mark from distance. Add in what he can do to go with the seventh overall pick from Minnesota, and the Bulls’ rebuilding plan would be off to a tremendous start.