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NBA Trade Rumors: Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler To The Boston Celtics

By Ernest Shepard
Published on: 08:12 PST, Jun 4, 2016

Jimmy Butler’s name keeps getting thrown out there when it comes to all of the NBA trade rumors. The Chicago Bulls’ shooting guard has been mentioned in NBA trade rumors to be headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic, just to name a few teams. Then there is the one NBA team that keeps getting linked to Jimmy Butler.

NBA trade rumors involving the Bulls sending Jimmy Butler to the Boston Celtics just won’t die. And when it comes to NBA trade rumors, some of them are just dream scenarios, while other NBA trade rumors have some legitimacy to them. The Celtics’ interest in the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler has to be somewhere in the middle.

The Boston Celtics have a great interest in the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler, and the Bulls may move him for the right trade. The Celtics see acquiring Jimmy Butler as part of a dream scenario. Butler is viewed as the final piece to a run at the NBA title. Given how the Celtics are currently constructed, a deep roster of solid, though not great players, the need for a star player is evident. Diminutive point guard Isaiah Thomas is an all-star, but the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler is on the cusp of superstar status. One more strong season with a playoff appearance solidifies it.

Fans of the Chicago Bulls hope that Jimmy Butler reaches superstar status with their team, but the Boston Celtics keep entering the picture as an interested team.

As recently as a month ago, NESN reported that the Boston Celtics are setting up for a run at both free-agent-to-be’s Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler. Durant and Butler are the top two players on their offseason target list. If the Celtics have success in getting both of them, look out Eastern Conference teams! Chances are, the enthusiasm will only take place in the aforementioned dream scenarios category.

“Right now, where we are, it’s all combined. We have to look at trades, draft and free agency in order to build our team with the assets that we have,” says Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge on the Celtics’ offseason plans.

The odds of getting Kevin Durant to sign with the Boston Celtics are 50-1, according to CSN Chicago. The Celtics stand a better chance to sign Durant than the Chicago Bulls do. The Bulls are currently 500-1 when it comes to signing Durant.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Bulls, with two all-stars, would be a better destination for Kevin Durant than the Celtics. Then one must consider that one of the all-stars, former NBA MVP Derrick Rose, is only committed to the Bulls for one more year. Also, the inner workings of the Chicago Bulls’ front office are a mess, causing the exodus of all-star center Joakim Noah, according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times. That eliminates the Bulls from any discussions for Kevin Durant. And if the Boston Celtics are monitoring the Chicago Bulls’ situation as it is believed that they are, they will revisit their talks with the Bulls for a Jimmy Butler deal. Acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Bulls would increase the Celtics’ odds at signing Kevin Durant.

The Celtics’ trade offer for Jimmy Butler will have to be bigger than what they offered the Bulls before February’s trade deadline.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Celtics were one of the teams that attempted to trade for Butler prior to the close of the NBA trade deadline. There are no confirmed details on what the Celtics offered the Bulls for Jimmy Butler. If the Celtics want to entice the Bulls, their No. 3 pick, guard R.J. Hunter, center Kelly Olynyk, and an additional first-round pick have to be the starting point.

This trade would guarantee the Bulls a shot at a duo of guards Kris Dunn and Buddy Hield. The Bulls would also get another pure shooter in R.J. Hunter and a promising post player in Kelly Olynyk. That would be a solid coup for the Bulls, who may want to hit the reset button. Trading Jimmy Butler would also save the cost-efficient Bulls $2.6 million if they do it quickly, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.

In Jimmy Butler, the Boston Celtics gets the player they have coveted for nearly a year. As he has shown with the Bulls, Butler can make the big shot and is a lockdown defender. The Celtics would be right in the mix for the title hunt.

An NBA trade scenario by Bleacher Report has the Boston Celtics sending guards Avery Bradley and Terry Rozier, forward Jonas Jerebko, and the No. 3 pick and No. 16 pick to the Bulls for Jimmy Butler. That trade accomplishes what the Celtics want to accomplish by getting a star in Jimmy Butler. The Chicago Bulls get younger and are allowed to build a team in the likeness of their head coach Fred Hoiberg.

NBA trade rumors are running wild these days. One of the biggest names involved in the NBA trade rumors is Jimmy Butler. It seems that the Boston Celtics still have an interest in the Chicago Bulls’ star shooting guard. Should the Bulls and Celtics rekindle talks of a Jimmy Butler swap?

This NBA trade rumor keeps coming up for a reason. Maybe the Bulls and Celtics are working on something.

[Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]

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