After years of speculation, the Chicago Bulls ultimately traded Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen. With the Bulls close to embracing a full rebuild if they buyout Dwyane Wade, Butler has an opportunity to make deep playoff runs with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
As the 2017-18 NBA season draws closer, the three-time All-Star discussed his relationship with former head coach Fred Hoiberg and the change of direction with Michael Pena of VICE Sports:
“I'm confrontational. I feed off of confrontation. It makes me go. Not everybody's like that. [Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg] is not that coach, and there's nothing wrong with that. There are different coaching styles and people are gonna say—which is what they did say—'It's gonna be Jimmy's team or it's gonna be Fred's team.' Two total opposite ends of the spectrum. They're either gonna try to win it now or they're gonna go young. And you see which way they went with it. Completely fine. Yo, it's y'all's business. It's y'all's organization. It's cool. And now I'm in Minnesota and couldn't be happier.”
For the Bulls and Butler, it was best they parted ways. While Chicago attempted to stay competitive with Wade and Rajon Rondo this past season, they ultimately landed three lottery picks in the last three drafts.
As for Butler, he will team up with head coach Tom Thibodeau again, who shares a similar approach. With a win-now mentality, the Timberwolves dramatically improved their roster with Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford.
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