IMU wrote:
He is currently the Bulls' franchise player. Whether you think he is talented enough to be in a conversation of Top 10 players in the league...he is currently the player Bulls fans pay to see at the moment. That has value to the franchise. I'm not sure Oladipo and Vucevic have either the talent or the star power to overcome Butler's talent and star power.
I don't even think we've seen the best of Jimmy Butler yet. I guarantee you he isn't happy with this 3P shot yet...and his work ethic won't allow him to remain at 33% 3P shooter.
Is he untradeable? Absolutely not. Should the Bulls be looking to deal him? Absolutely not.
He is the Bulls franchise player in the way that Damian Lillard or LaMarcus Aldridge were/are Portland's franchise player. Maybe not as good as those two but close enough.
Simply being a team's best player does not make you a franchise player. Chris Bosh was Toronto's franchise player if that was the case but that doesn't mean he was a franchise player.
If someone suggest's that it needs to be a potential franchise player in order for Butler to be traded then that makes Butler untradeable.
I will provide 2 examples of guys that fit the bill 1. Towns. 2. Porzingus. Neither will ever be traded straight up for Butler.
Minnesota won't even trade Wiggins straight up for Butler. Towns will probably end up being better than Wiggins and they won't trade Wiggins for him.
In the case of Oladipo he was coming off the bench earlier this yr. Probably still is. Vukevic is probably the 8th best center in the league. I had him a little higher yesterday but I haven't crunched the numbers but if I did he would be about 8th. They declined the trade. That speaks volumes about his value around the league. Bench guy and a center that is not a top tier guy and they say no.
Butler may get better but he will be 28 yrs old. Also his physical style of play tends to lead to injuries. He missed 3-4 weeks last yr and he is missing 3-4 weeks so far this yr. He may shoot a higher percentage from 3 which is an improvement, but he is already showing slippage as a defender. He has been torched during a number of games this season.
The slippage in defense may be attributable to assuming a larger role in the offense. It's hard to consistently play both sides of the floor. He also logs a lot of minutes, something which may be affecting his ability to play D.
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The Hawk wrote:
This is going to reach a head pretty soon.