Chicago Bulls: With Butler Out, Is It Time To Panic?

After suffering a knee injury, Jimmy Butler will miss time, which may spark even more panic for the Chicago Bulls.

There was 1:10 remaining in the first half and the game was tied at 51. Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler had the ball at the top of the key with Gary Harris playing defense in an isolation situation. Butler knew he had the advantage and blew by Harris and rose to the basket only to be met in mid-air by Joffrey Lauvergne of the Denver Nuggets. The contact was impactful enough to knock Butler off balance and as a result, he landed awkwardly on his knee, then hitting his back.

Though the game was at Denver, the loss of breath could be heard from Bulls fans back in Chicago. When Butler appeared injured, the first thing that comes to the minds of Bulls fans is how another one of their superstars could go down with a significant knee injury–Derrick Rose being other obvious other.

Butler had to be rolled off the floor on a stretcher, but was sitting up waving to the crowd. The look of calmness on Butler’s face may have helped Bulls fans cope for the time being, but the team had already been struggling mightily with Butler playing at a high level, so what would they be with him out of the lineup? More importantly, how long would they have to survive without his services?

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Luckily, the injury wasn’t as serious as it appeared, but Butler will still be sidelined for three to four weeks with a strained left knee. If all goes as scheduled, he should only miss about eight or nine games, which may not seem like many from a macro-level, but considering how tight the Eastern Conference is this season, they could see a significant drop.

The Bulls have dropped down to the seventh seed in the East with a 27-25 overall record. Their point differential (-.07) is the lowest of all eight playoff seeds and the only negative besides the Miami Heat’s -.03.

Losing Butler is a monumental loss for this team. His 22.4 points per game leads the team by a five-point margin while his 4.3 assists per game ranks second and his 5.2 rebound average ranks fifth. What the Bulls will miss most from Butler is his defensive presence. Along with the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, Butler is considered one of the elite perimeter defenders in the NBA. Butler routinely guards the opposing team’s best wing player, and with the stretch of games that he is projected to miss, players such as LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden and C.J. McCollum will look to take advantage of Butler’s absence.

Prior to Butler’s injury, there have been rumbles amongst the Bulls relating to ‘blowing up’ the roster and building with young players surrounding Butler in hopes to create a stronger contender as quick as possible. Although blowing up the roster doesn’t seem to make a world of sense at this point, it may be the Bulls only hope of being realistic contenders against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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It’ll all be clearer once it is seen how the Bulls play in these stretch of games without Butler. The one thing that is in their favor is the All-Star break, as it offers time to get off their feet and come back fresh physically and mentally, but if things go haywire and they play poorly, the crossroads that they are currently sitting at could navigate them in the direction of a roster rebuild.