The biggest winners and losers of 2017 NBA free agency

Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves

At long last, Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler are together again. And unlike most hypothetical trade scenarios put forth up to that point, the Minnesota Timberwolves barely even had to give anything up for a certified top-15 player in the league.

In exchange for Zach LaVine (who’s coming off an ACL injury), Kris Dunn (coming off perhaps the most disappointing rookie season in the league last year) and the No. 7 pick (the one-dimensional Lauri Markkanen), the Wolves bolstered their 26th-ranked defense and made their top-10 offense even more potent with Butler’s 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

For the first time since 2004, the T-Wolves are seriously poised to return to the postseason. Adding Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford only helps matters, and that’s before considering the impact of another year of development for Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Loser: Chicago Bulls

As was the case with every superstar trade this summer, the team shipping away its franchise player lost — decisively. The Chicago Bulls finally made good on their promise to get younger, but they did so by trading a top-15 player for peanuts, without a blue-chip prospect to build on for the future.

LaVine is better than people realize and he’s still only 22 years old, but will he be the same after his ACL tear? Dunn isn’t a draft bust after only one season, but at 23, he was supposed to be far more NBA-ready than he showed as a rookie. Markkanen will spread the floor, but his defense might make him unplayable.

Neither Denzel Valentine, Cameron Payne, Paul Zipser, Cristiano Felicio‘s inflated contract nor Bobby Valentine will step up as the next savior this franchise needs. After failing to build around their old one, Chicago’s front office then failed to at least get a respectable return to jumpstart the next phase. But hey, at least they still have a 35-year-old Dwyane Wade!