NBA Trade Rumors: Chicago Bulls Trading Jimmy Butler To Minnesota Timberwolves For Andrew Wiggins And Zach LaVine?


Is there more roster turnover on the way for the Chicago Bulls? Several of the NBA trade rumors suggest that the Bulls will be making more changes as the season continues on. It is just a matter of what changes the Bulls could make as they push for a return to the NBA playoffs. One of the latest of the NBA trade rumors involves the Bulls making a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This NBA trade rumor comes courtesy of Ecumenical News. Per their report, a possible trade could happen between the Bulls and Timberwolves, with Bulls’ all-star Jimmy Butler and Jerian Grant being swapped for Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine. The rumored NBA trade would have some considerable effects on both teams if something were to take place between them.

The Bulls and Timberwolves have come out of the gate with some mixed results.

Starting off 5-4 and 2-5 is not what either the Bulls or the Timberwolves envisioned. A trade could possibly help them solve some of their problems.

This rumored trade has it all.

There is star power in the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler. This NBA trade rumor has young players in Jerian Grant, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine. The Chicago Bulls are a marquee NBA franchise, while the Minnesota Timberwolves are a club on the rise. What more would anyone want?

Getting back Jimmy Butler in this NBA trade rumor would make the Timberwolves an instant playoff team. Potentially pairing Butler up with Karl-Anthony Towns would give Minnesota a set of bookends defensively.

Towns keeps growing as a player. He is a postseason appearance away from solidifying his position as a top-tier star. Armed with the ability to do just about everything on the basketball court, Towns is in the enviable spot where the improvements that he makes will mostly fine tune the skills he already possesses. Giving Towns a premier perimeter defensive star in the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler would only make him better. Towns is already regarded as a top-25 NBA talent. The experts are saying that if he had some veteran help, he and the Timberwolves would become a dangerous team.

The Bulls would acquire two starters with star ability in Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine. Wiggins could easily be considered a poor man’s Jimmy Butler. The only issue is that he is young.

The same thing could be said about LaVine, who is a young, athletic scorer still trying to find his niche in the NBA. Signing young players would certainly help the Bulls accomplish their original goal of getting more youth on their roster. This trade, as constructed, would set the Bulls back a bit in the standings. Once Wiggins and LaVine figure things out, the Bulls would come out a better ball club.

The youth of Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine is perhaps why this NBA trade rumor has come to the surface. The Timberwolves have a head coach in Tom Thibodeau, who is not a fan of playing young guys. He would much rather have the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler in the fold. Thibodeau knows Butler better than he does his Timberwolves’ team having coached him for four seasons with the Bulls.

As much as the youth of Wiggins and LaVine might have fueled the trade rumors, both of them can turn out to become special players. There is no way that Timberwolves would trade both Wiggins and LaVine to the Chicago Bulls, and the reason why is their youth.

Both of them are averaging at least 20 points (courtesy of Fox Sports) a game. Wiggins is scoring 24 points, while LaVine is adding 20.4 during the infancy stages of the season. Eventually, it will translate into wins. Making a trade with the Bulls would result in the Timberwolves giving up two 20-point scorers for one. It is nonsensical. There is no incentive for the Timberwolves to give up on two-thirds of their current core for the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler. When Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine all score 20 points, the Timberwolves are 4-1.

If the Bulls and Timberwolves were to make a trade, it would be similar to the deal that was rumored to happen on the night of the NBA draft. SB Nation reported that the Bulls and Timberwolves were close to agreeing on a trade that would have sent Butler to Minnesota for Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine. Only this time, it would likely be another Timberwolves’ player going back to the Bulls as a substitute for Dunn.

Some of the NBA trade rumors that have come out have some merit, while others do not. Because of the current situation that the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves are in, it could cause some to panic. Patience is needed in both Chicago and Minnesota as both the Bulls and Timberwolves will be alright if they stick to their rosters.

[Featured Image by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]

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