The Golden State Warriors couldn’t be more pleased with their midseason acquisition of Jimmy Butler, as he brought them from a fringe lottery team to being in the NBA playoffs in a matter of weeks. While Golden State was unable to secure a top-six seed, they are set to face the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs following their play-in win.
Going back to Butler’s debut with Golden State, that came on February 8th against the Chicago Bulls, the team that drafted him. He finished the game with 25 points, kicking off a stellar stretch with the Warriors. However, he might’ve never left Chicago if things turned out differently, as a recent report indicated the Bulls weren’t willing to pay the multi-time All-Star.
“Chicago was being cheap, actually,” Butler told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “They didn’t want to pay me the supermax. It wasn’t about the money in other places. It was about winning. And with winning comes everything else that you could want. With winning comes the money. With winning comes the fame.”
After deciding not to give Butler the supermax, the Bulls decided to trade Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a package involving Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Kris Dunn. Now with LaVine off the roster, nobody from that deal remains on the roster.
Butler ended up bouncing from the Timberwolves to the Philadelphia 76ers, then to the Heat, where he had his most success. Now, in the twilight of his career, and a contract for the upcoming two seasons, Butler looks to capture that coveted NBA title this year, while the Bulls have several questions to answer this offseason.
