Butler: Being the face of the Bulls 'doesn't mean a damn thing'
Jimmy Butler has a great deal of love for The Windy City, but it's safe to assume he won't be exchanging Christmas cards with the organization that just sent him packing to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"It doesn't mean a damn thing," Butler said of being the face of the Chicago Bulls to the Sun-Times. "I guess being called the face of an organization isn't as good as I thought. We all see where being the so-called face of the Chicago Bulls got me. So let me be just a player for the Timberwolves, man. That's all I want to do. I just want to be winning games. Do what I can for my respective organization and let them realize what I'm trying to do."
During Thursday's NBA draft it was announced that the Bulls were trading Butler and the No. 16 pick (Creighton's Justin Patton) to Minnesota in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the No. 7 pick (Arizona's Lauri Markkanen).
The 27-year-old reportedly wanted to remain with Chicago, even going as far as informing the Cleveland Cavaliers not to make a move for him, as his goal was to help the team return to prominence in the Eastern Conference. That loyalty didn't stop the Bulls from shipping him off, though, despite the fact that he was clearly their best player, and on a bargain of a contract for the next two years.
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"Whatever they want to call me - face - I don't even want to get into that anymore. Whose team is it? All that means nothing," Butler added. "You know what I've learned? Face of the team, eventually you're going to see the back of his head as he's leaving town, so no thanks."
While Butler holds no ill will toward the franchise that selected him 30th overall back in 2011, he certainly wishes their working relationship would have ended on better terms.
"You can't get mad at anybody. I'm not mad, I'm not. I just don't like the way some things were handled, but it's OK," he added.