Chicago Bulls: Revisiting offseason Jimmy Butler trade

The Chicago Bulls may have made the right decision by trading three-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.

When the Chicago Bulls advanced into the playoffs last season, it marked the eighth time they had earned a postseason appearance over the last decade. On the flip side of the equation, when they fell to the Boston Celtics in the first round, it was third time in which they suffered a first round exit over the past five seasons.

Realizing they had gone as far as they possibly could, the Bulls decided it was time to start from square one.

They began the process by sending three-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick – Lauri Markkanen.

Although the Bulls were getting three younger players in return, the early consensus was the Timberwolves had gotten the better end of the deal.

First, let’s revisit this trade from the Timberwolves’ perspective. Butler’s numbers (21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest) are similar to his production during his last season with the Bulls (23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 rebounds per outing).

In addition to that, Butler is Minnesota’s leading scorer and he is shooting a career-best 47.4 percent from the field. The Timberwolves are also tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference and are on pace to snap their 13-year absence from the playoffs.

In other words, they are exactly where they’d hoped they would be when they acquired Butler during the offseason.

Meanwhile, the Bulls have a lot to smile about as well. For instance, Markkanen – a.k.a. “The Finnisher” – has been a God-send. Following a preseason altercation between Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic, the rookie forward was inserted into the starting lineup and has exceeded expectations, to put it mildly.

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Since the start of the New Year, Markkanen is currently having the best month of his rookie campaign, averaging 19.7 points on 51.4 percent shooting and a 51.7 percent conversion rate from distance. Overall, Markkanen is the Bulls’ second-leading scorer with 15.5 points per game, which is the fourth-best scoring average in this year’s rookie class.

Markkanen leads all rookies with 101 made 3-pointers, reaching the impressive milestone faster than any player in NBA history. He is also the Bulls’ top rebounder with 7.5 boards per outing. Prior to the season, there were questions as to whether Markkanen could excel at the NBA level. Needless to say, that is no longer the case.

Following a dismal rookie season in Minnesota, the thought of Dunn at the lead guard spot didn’t exactly give Bulls fans a lot to feel confident about. However, not only has Dunn increased his scoring average by 10 points per contest, his overall shooting percentage is 43.7 percent, a noticeable jump from the 38.7 percent clip he recorded last season.

After posting a 28.8 percent conversion rate from beyond the arc in 2016-17, Dunn is shooting 33 percent from 3-point range. It should also be noted that Dunn leads the Bulls in assists (6.3 per contest) and steals (2.1 per game), proving he can be productive at both ends of the court.

Last, but certainly not least, let’s take a look at LaVine. True, LaVine missed the first half of the season due to a torn ACL injury he sustained nearly a year ago. While he averaged a career-best 18.9 points per outing last season, the biggest question was how would he respond after being away from the court for an extended period of time.

So far, so good.

LaVine made his debut against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 13 and gave the United Center crowd a glimpse of what he can bring to the table.

In that contest, LaVine scored 14 points and two assists on 5-for-9 shooting across 19 minutes. It was more of the same in the team’s recent outing against the Miami Heat. In just 20 minutes of action, LaVine’s final stat line included 18 points (7-for-12 overall and 2-for-4 from 3-point-range), five rebounds and five assists.

Of course, two games is a very small sample size.

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However, if LaVine is able to return to form once he is given a heavier workload, the Bulls will have acquired a trio of players that they can build around for many years to come – something that didn’t seem likely when this trade took place six months ago.