The additions of Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo sparked great excitement in the Windy City heading into this season. Expectations were high, and the city had hopes of the team finally starting to move forward post-Derrick Rose.

So far the Bulls have been average at best, however, currently sitting one game above .500 with a 19-18 record.

It's not the new Big 3 isn't meshing, it's just that the roster as a whole isn't as complete.

Due to that deficiency and the lack of more wins, this past week rumors surfaced about the Bulls looking to trade their star Jimmy Butler before February's deadline. This comes despite the fact that Butler is averaging 25.2 points, 4.5 assists, and 6.8 rebounds per game — nearly double his career average in all categories.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, those close to the Bulls have denied looking to trade Butler:

“Sources with knowledge of the Bulls' thinking emphatically deny the notion that All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler is available.

“Given all the chaos enveloping the Bulls lately, with considerable doubt bubbling about how much longer Rajon Rondo ‎will stick around Chicago, hanging onto one of the game's best two-way players seems prudent.”

The Bulls may still be working out the kinks, and the team has to figure out what to do with Rondo, but Butler doesn't look to be going anywhere.

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Wade dismissed the rumors as false rumors someone quickly wrote up.

“It's a big market. It's the Bulls. Our best player is in a rumor right now,” Wade said. “It doesn't matter. It's been a rumor every week but nothing has happened. It's a big market, something to talk about. A couple extra hits. It's the way the world works, the world we're in. Someone decided to write something with no merit. And if it does have merit, way to be first in line for the scoop.”

Rumors or not, it will be a shock to everyone if the Bulls do indeed trade Jimmy Butler.