Forman, Paxson leave Butler-less Bulls with little hope
A departing superstar always leaves the fan base losing him with a feeling of hopelessness, but never is that feeling stronger than when those fans believe the executives tasked with picking up the pieces are wholly incompetent.
That's the predicament Chicago Bulls fans find themselves in this morning, a day after general manager Gar Forman and vice president John Paxson sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota for pennies on the dollar.
Had the Bulls been facing the same dilemma as the Indiana Pacers - who will lose Paul George for nothing in free agency should they fail to trade him before next summer - a package of young (though flawed) talent, including Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and 2017 No. 7 pick Lauri Markkanen, would've been a fine haul.
But Forman and Paxson weren't facing that dilemma at all (and couldn't even keep their own first-rounder in dealing Butler).
In fact, the latest reports out of Chicago had Butler wanting to remain a Bull after surviving trade rumors earlier in the week, and even recruiting fellow stars to the Windy City.
Not to mention, Butler's under team control for at least the next two years (with a player option for 2019-20), and will earn less than $20 million in each of those two seasons, while players of similar talents collect upwards of $30 million a year (LaVine, himself, could be making more than Butler in 2018-19).
Perhaps Bulls management felt they had already squeezed Butler's prime out of his current deal - that a player who's logged more than 10,000 minutes over the last four seasons (but has only cracked the 70-game mark twice) has to start regressing sooner than later. Perhaps Forman and Paxson want to build around potential stars who project to peak after the Warriors fade as opposed to surefire stars who'll be slowing down by then.
Except Butler only turns 28 in September, he suited up for 76 games this past season, he didn't start logging heavy minutes until his mid-20s, and he's gotten better every single year, culminating in a 2016-17 campaign that saw him average 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals on 46-37-87 shooting. Only a who's who of Hall of Famers have enjoyed comparable performances.
At a post-draft media conference last night, Paxson called Thursday's trade a necessary one to launch a rebuild in Chicago. The irony is that the building block of any NBA contender is the value provided by the type of in-his-prime superstar he and Forman just traded away.
Through all of the team's dysfunction in recent years - from Derrick Rose's downfall, to Tom Thibodeau's uncomfortable exit, to Forman and Paxson saying they wanted to get younger and faster before strapping Fred Hoiberg with Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo - the Bulls' saving grace was always Butler - Chicago's All-NBA superstar on a bargain of a contract.
Not anymore.
Now Bulls fans are left with no choice but to place what's left of their faith in the hands of men who - in most other organizations - would've been relieved of their duties long before they were tasked with dealing the franchise's most irreplaceable asset.