There has been a lot of talk about the Chicago Bulls not getting enough in return from the Minnesota Timberwolves with the Jimmy Butler trade, but that may have something to do with teams knowing Butler’s relationship with his coach had soured.
In a lengthy feature about how the Butler trade came together, ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that it was essentially a known fact that the Bulls did not want to build around Butler. It seems as if they ultimately chose head coach Fred Hoiberg over Butler, as the two never seemed to be on the same page.
More from Lowe:
The Bulls were rather publicly uncomfortable with the idea of Butler as foundational player. Butler and Hoiberg never jelled, and at times, including around midseason, Butler’s bristling at Hoiberg’s instructions and calm personality made people on the team uncomfortable, a source said. That stuff will not happen with Thibodeau. Butler craves a hard-ass coach. Hoiberg was never going to play to that type.
The Bulls acquired young point guards Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn — two players with plenty of potential — and essentially moved up nine spots from No. 16 to No. 7 in Thursday night’s draft. While that seems like a reasonable price for Minnesota, Lowe notes that Chicago asked for more from other teams (like Eric Bledsoe and the No. 4 pick from the Phoenix Suns), but nothing ever came of it. Some teams were concerned that Butler would just leave in 2019 when he is eligible to become a free agent.
If you remember, Butler was openly critical of Hoiberg just months after the coach was hired by the Bulls. More recently, Butler did some things on the court that would not fly under a coach like Tom Thibodeau, and perhaps that is the way the All-Star swing man wants it to be.
