Jimmy Butler may be 35, but he can still help define the direction of a NBA franchise. The trade deadline isn’t until Feb 6, but speculation continues to swirl around Jimmy G. Buckets.
The Marquette product was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2011, and the Windy City is where he developed into an All-Star and All-NBA Defensive Team level player. However, on draft night, 2017, the Bulls traded Jimmy Butler, and sharply took a downward turn as a franchise
The Bulls got absolutely fleeced on the Butler trade, in a deal that essentially was nothing more than a salary dump/fire sale. They also went from being open and accommodating with the media to completely standoffish, defensive and cold.
They shut out the media at the same time that they finally picked a direction with their roster construction- down. At the time, the Bulls were long overdue for picking a lane, and they chose the ditch.
No wonder they didn’t want to accommodate the media, as all the criticism came just too easy.
While they weren’t championship contenders by any stretch of the imagination, the Bulls were still perennial playoff participants back then. After Jimmy Butler left the Bulls, however, they fell way off the map. Chicago has just one playoff appearance, and only one playoff game win since. That is
As for Jimmy Buckets, or Jimmy Gets Buckets, he would develop into a true superstar in Minnesota, and then later continue ascending in Philadelphia and Miami, where he has been since 2019.
Now that Butler will soon be on his fifth team, where will he go? A recent report in RG lists the four top Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.
It would appear that GSW is the front-runner right now, but that all depends on who you talk to, and when you talk to them. You also have an interesting dark horse who has just entered the chat.
That would be the Denver Nuggets, who actually beat Jimmy Butler and the Heat, for their first NBA title in 2023.
That’s according to a fresh report in the Sporting News. Any of these teams would be an interesting fit for Jimmy, and perhaps this is the year he gets his first ring.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.