Jimmy Butler has found his name at the center of several trade rumors already this offseason, but is his back court mate the one who is more likely to be on the move?
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, scouts in Italy say the Bulls are “actively” looking to trade Derrick Rose and would prefer moving him over Butler. The issue could be that Butler’s value is much higher, which is why there have been more reports about teams contacting the Bulls about him.
More from Kyler:
Rose is entering the final year of his deal and has commented numerous times on the ballooning salary cap and his next contract, much to the dismay of the Bulls front office and a large number of Bulls fans. Add that to an on-again, off-again intensity and there is a sense that both sides would welcome a change, especially with Rose entering a free agent year.
At this point, it’s unclear which teams (if anyone) has made a real offer for Rose, especially given his $21.3 million salary. But it was said a few times that the name being talked about most among teams and scouts in Italy was not Butler, but rather Rose and there is a sense that a team that misses on a starting-caliber point guard in free agency may turn to the Bulls.
We all know about Rose’s injury history. It’s hard to imagine a team would be willing to give up serious assets to get one year of a player whose production has decreased and is a major injury risk.
While the Bulls are not actively looking to trade Butler, they’re obviously listening. We already got an idea of how highly they value him with this report about a potential deal. If they’re looking for max value in return, trading Butler makes sense. If the Bulls want to build around Butler and try to fix some of their locker room issues, getting whatever they can for Rose and breaking up their current backcourt could be the best option.
