Why Would You Trade Jimmy Butler?

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Photo by Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bulls’ All Star has been in trade rumors recently, despite his stellar play

Jacob Chagoya, Web Editor

Jimmy Butler is the Chicago Bulls. He is the offense, he is the defense, and for some reason he is also the one that is reportedly being shopped around. With reports surfacing that the Bulls front office might be looking to trade the All Star, the question has to be asked. Why would you trade Jimmy Butler?

Saturday night the Bulls were losing to the Toronto Raptors by 19 points. Down at home, the Bulls looked dead in the water, a far cry from the team that had just beaten the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Then, Jimmy Butler did something that very few players in the NBA can do.  He took over the game.

The Bulls bench got the lead down to about 10 points when Butler reentered the game in the fourth quarter. From then on it was the Jimmy Butler show, as he seemingly made every play. Scoring big buckets, finding cutters for assists, and grabbing his own offensive rebounds off of misses, Butler had a hand on almost every score down the stretch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, it is more than just the scoring that makes Butler unique. There are very few players that can take over games offensively, and there are even less that can do that while also guarding the opposing team’s best player as Butler does. There he was Saturday, picking Raptor’s All Star Kyle Lowry up for full court defense while simultaneously handling the ball on offense. How many players can do that in the league? Very few can, which again begs the question: why would you trade Jimmy Butler?

When trading All Stars there are a few reasons to. One is that the team believes the player will leave them in free agency, and want to trade for some players so they don’t end up empty handed. That isn’t the case here as Butler is on a team friendly contract that has him signed for a few more years. Another reason is that they believe the player can not lead them to an NBA championship, and want to draft players that potentially can. While we do not know if Butler is capable of being the main player on a championship caliber team, the chances of drafting a player that can are slim. Teams draft players in hopes that they can turn out like Butler, a player who can drop 30+ points while playing elite defense on a nightly basis.

Butler is not untouchable, but the front office should not be looking to trade him. They should be looking to surround Butler with some talent so we can see where he can lead the Bulls. Instead the front office insists on signing players that do not fit their vision, such as Rajon Rondo. Butler is doing all he can, and he has had to take over games way too often. The Bulls are getting lucky that he is capable of doing this, evidenced by his last three games. He dropped 52 points in a win against the Charlotte Hornets, then he scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to ice the win vs the Cavs.

Jimmy Butler is single handedly winning games this season, a testament to his hard working demeanor. Butler has turned himself into a superstar, and he is currently averaging 25.6 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. You won’t find many players that can do that in a season, let alone find one in a trade. Butler should not be traded.