Bulls fans are still wondering what the hell happened in the Jimmy Butler trade in the weeks following a different trade that saw the two best teams in the Eastern Conference swap star point guards. If the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to get such a huge haul from Boston for Kyrie Irving – including the unprotected Nets pick in 2018 – why couldn’t the Bulls front office execute a similar deal? Why did they settle for what many deemed to be a much worse deal with Tom Thibodeau’s Timberwolves?
ESPN’s senior NBA writer Zach Lowe just shed some light on that quandary. In his column Wednesday morning, Lowe revisited the Boston trades that never materialized for Butler and Pacers star Paul George. Three key factors kept Celtics boss Danny Ainge at a distance.
Timing
Timing is everything, and that age-old nugget of wisdom proved true for the Celtics this offseason. They weren’t ready to make a huge franchise-changing trade before the 2017 draft.
An excerpt from Lowe’s column:
The “why not Butler and George?” questions are dicier. Timing played a part. Boston wanted two All-Star-level building blocks. They feared flipping their golden trade chip for the first one, whiffing on the second, and ending up having squandered their best asset to build a team that wasn’t appreciably better than their previous iteration of LeBron roadkill. They preferred signing the first one — Hayward — in free agency, and then jumping headlong into the trade market.
So there’s the first piece of the puzzle. Ainge preferred to sign their first new star in free agency rather than bring them to Boston via trade. The Bulls were hot to move Jimmy before draft night because they wanted to move up into the lottery. Ainge wasn’t ready to deal his remaining Nets pick without protections on it, and that’s what Gar Forman and John Paxson wanted. If the offer wasn’t there, they had to move on and find a different one.
Clashing Stars
The second reason Lowe provides for the Celtics not wanting Butler is quite interesting. And it had nothing to do with the timing of transactions or which pieces were on or off the table.
From Lowe:
The Celtics had some concerns over how Hayward and Butler would mesh, both on the court and as personalities, sources say.
Knowing that he was going to pursue Gordon Hayward – with whom his coach Brad Stevens formed a strong bond at Butler – Ainge apparently didn’t love the idea of Hayward and Butler playing together.
The notion that they might not compliment each other on the floor is logical. Both players can create their own offense but aren’t true facilitators for the other four guys on the court. Their collective amount of isolation plays would’ve likely slowed the Celtics’ offense to a pace that’s not conducive to the modern NBA.
The “as personalities” tidbit at the end of Lowe’s sentence is the most interesting part. Hayward has a reputation for being a very humble and quiet guy both on the court and in the locker room compared to some of the larger-than-life personalities of his colleagues. Did Ainge see Butler’s ego as a problem? Jimmy always talks about still being “that humble kid from Tomball, Texas who didn’t get recruited by any big schools” and yada-yada-yada. But during his rise from junior college to 30th pick to defensive specialist to Most Improved Player to All Star starter, Jimmy’s ego has undeniably grown.
At this point it’s safe to say the Bulls front office didn’t love Jimmy’s new “Hollywood as Hell” persona. It’s reasonable to deduct that Ainge doesn’t love it either.
Fountain Of Youth
The final reason for Ainge preferring to add Kyrie Irving – and forking over so much for him – rather than Butler is the one Lowe predicts carries the most weight. Age.
Lowe:
And then there is perhaps the most important variable: Irving is just 25, two years younger than George, and two-and-a-half years younger than Butler. When you’re building around Tatum and Jaylen Brown, those two-plus years are crucial. Irving is just entering his prime. Boston wants to push LeBron now, and maybe make the NBA Finals if he goes west, but they really want to be the team of 2020 and beyond. Irving fits that timetable better, provided he can stay healthy.
Sure, the Celtics would love to make another run at knocking off LeBron & Co. this season, but let’s be realistic. Even if they somehow get the better of LeBron’s new-look Cavs, they have virtually 0% chance of beating Golden State in a best of seven series.
Ainge is trying to set his team up for a dominant run in the years during and following the decline of LeBron James. Some of their newest pieces like Brown and Tatum aren’t even 21 yet. When they’re entering their prime years, LeBron will be pushing 40. It’s very possible – if not likely – that James will still be playing into his late thirties and beyond. But it’s less likely, given all of the miles on his body, that he will still dominate and lead any collection of players to successive Finals series the way he does now.
Kyrie is young enough to mesh with Ainge’s foreseen timeline of taking over the East once LeBron has either moved West or retired. Jimmy isn’t. So there’s that.
Apples & Oranges
I know Bulls fans are still upset about the seemingly paltry package that came from Minnesota in the Butler deal. The haul Cleveland got from Boston makes the Butler deal look even worse by comparison, especially if you believe (as I do) that Jimmy’s defensive abilities make him a better overall player than Irving.
But in case you needed reminding, Lowe set the record straight. And I can re-hammer his point home: you’re free to think the Bulls should’ve gotten a better deal for Butler by trading with Boston instead of Minnesota, but it takes two teams to make a trade happen. The Bulls were ready to deal Jimmy, but the Celtics weren’t desperate to have him. In fact, it sounds like they really didn’t want him at all.
So stop comparing apples to oranges when you whine about the Irving deal being far better than the Butler deal. Yeah, it’s a bummer. But it’s also a non-starter. Accept and move on.
