The Chicago Bulls rebuilding process officially got started last night, when they traded star forward Jimmy Butler and their No. 16 pick (Creighton's Justin Patton) to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for high-fly act Zach LaVine, rookie Kris Dunn and the No. 7 overall pick (Arizona's Lauri Markkanen).
In a shocking turn of events, after the first six picks were relative chalk to most of those familiar with the mock draft order, the Bulls pulled the trigger and reunited Butler with his former coach Tom Thibodeau.
“What we’ve done tonight is set a direction,” John Paxson, Bulls vice president of basketball operations told NBA.com's Steve Aschburner. “We’ve gone through the past where we’d make the playoffs but not at a level we wanted to. In this league, success is not determined that way. So we’ve decided to make the change and rebuild this roster. And we’re going to do it through young players we believe can play a system that [coach] Fred [Hoiberg] is comfortable with. And we’re going to be disciplined and patient as we make decisions along the way.”
In a very unorthodox method, Paxson and the Bulls' brawn is hoping to tailor the team around Hoiberg's system, rather than tailoring the system around their star forward after several years of coming out short in the Eastern Conference.
This change will include a very athletic backcourt featuring Dunn and LaVine, likely setting Dwyane Wade for a mentorship role if he ends up staying with the team through the beginning of the season.
Markkanen is a versatile big man that can shoot from distance and rebound the ball at the power forward position but has a long way to go to be a defensive presence in the league.
“When you do this, you understand it’s going to be difficult,” Paxson said. “And there are going to be a lot of bumps along the road.”
“It’s necessary. This is something we felt we had to do at this time.”
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