After what must’ve been a nice respite from the chaos surrounding his Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler was back at the Advocate Center Friday morning for a shootaround before their game against the Phoenix Suns. That’s right, he’s still here. Not in Boston. But the three-time All Star did lose two of his teammates, as Chicago sent Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Athletic‘s Sean Highkin, who talked Bulls with The 312 guys this week, caught up with Butler Thursday morning. Jimmy said his spirits are high after a nice break, but some of his thoughts on what went down at the trade deadline and the front office decisions didn’t exactly exude believable optimism.
Jimmy’s Subtext
In his press conference last night, Paxson again refused to say concretely that the organization’s plan is to build around Butler moving forward. Between that and all of the trade speculation around him leading up to the deadline, is Jimmy upset?
Jimmy says he doesn't take trade talks personally. "I don't care if anybody wants to build around me. Just win."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 24, 2017
Jimmy might be telling the truth about tuning out trade talks. But he must be offended that neither Paxson or Gar Forman has come out and said that he’s their untouchable star. They doubted Butler with a low-ball offer before his MIP season, and he’s done nothing but improve since. Most recently, that meant earning – and I mean earning – his first selection as an All Star starter. How can he not be bothered by the front office’s lukewarm sentiment?
It sounds like Jimmy is trying to separate himself from any talk about GarPax and Michael Reinsdorf’s “collective plan” for putting this team on the right path. Actually, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Jimmy on the direction of the organization: "I'm a basketball player. I don't have an office up there."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 24, 2017
We’ve heard this from Jimmy before. He has zero interest in talking about the business or managerial aspects of NBA basketball. He knows he’s doing his job, and he doesn’t want to talk about whether or not his bosses are doing theirs.
Joy & Grief
Butler gave his best attempt at sounding optimistic about everything with one succinct statement.
Jimmy: "This is the organization I want to be with. These are the guys I want to play with, these are the coaches I want to play for."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 24, 2017
Doesn’t get much clearer than that, if you believe it.
If you don’t believe it, and think Jimmy is reeling from the loss of his teammates and pondering the competence of his bosses, his final thoughts on the trade are ripe for subtextual dissection.
On the loss of Taj and Doug:
Jimmy on Taj and Doug: "It hasn't set in that they're my enemies right now, but I guess it will whenever we go up against them."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 24, 2017
This, Bulls fans, is classic Head Shrinking 101. There are five stages of grief. The first two? Denial (“it hasn’t set in yet”) and anger (“they’re my enemies now”). He might be moving through the stages quickly, but I’d put money on Jimmy grieving over this trade.
Last question, Jimmy. How is this Bulls team better after this trade?
Jimmy Butler on how the Bulls are better after the trade: "I guess we'll find out tonight."
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) February 24, 2017
“I guess we’ll find out tonight.”
Subtext = “We’re not a better team after that trade, and you’re going to see that tonight.”
Thanks for being so charmingly transparent, Jimmy. It’s a nice change of pace for Bulls fans who deal with all of the opaque garble that GarPax spit out whenever they choose to grace us with their presence.
Of course, Jimmy knows all about that. More so than the fans. That’s why he chooses to separate himself from such nonsense and focus on basketball.
