After a rollercoaster 2016-17 season, the Chicago Bulls and their front office have a busy offseason ahead of them. Not only does Chicago need to add talent, but they’re going to have to make some big decisions regarding players already on their roster.
Guards Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade are both eligible to bolt Chicago via free agency, and the future of franchise centerpiece Jimmy Butler has looked murky for some time now.
For Rondo, this offseason will be especially interesting, as he found his stride in the first two games of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Boston Celtics. However, his season was cut shorter than he would’ve liked, sustaining a season-ending fractured thumb in Game 2.
Considering the Bulls won both games with Rondo in the lineup and the way he was able to run the offense towards the conclusion of the season, it’s no surprise the team wants to exercise its option on the Kentucky product. Following from ESPN’s Nick Friedell:
Chicago Bulls executive vice president John Paxson says there is a “really good chance,” the team will exercise its $13.4 million option on point guard Rajon Rondo next month.
“We’re going to make those decisions down the road, but there’s a good chance, a really good chance, that we’ll bring Rajon back,” Paxson said at his end-of-season news conference with Bulls general manager Gar Forman. “And for these reasons: As we get younger, it’s still really important to have quality veterans around your young players. And to a man, our young people love Rajon. He was great in the locker room, he was great off the court with these guys.
“He took them under his wing in a lot of ways. He was responsible for a lot of the good things that came from them. We have a lot of respect for Rajon, especially how he believes in the game.
While the team seems optimistic about Rondo suiting up for the Bulls next season, the situation is a little more unclear for Jimmy Butler who could get dealt if the Bulls decide that undergoing a full-blown rebuild is the best route for them to take.
“The thing with Jimmy is all of us would love to go out and get another a superstar player to go along with him,” Paxson said. “But right now the situation we’re in with the salaries we have, that type of thing, that’s a difficult thing for us to manage. I respect very much Jimmy Butler’s professionalism and how he goes about his job. I think the one thing we will do is continue to communicate with him. Like I said earlier, we’re going to sit down and talk to him. We can say anything to him, he can say anything to us. He can ask any questions he wants and we’ll be honest with him. Look, that’s the responsibility for us to do. He’s our best player. Ultimately, Gar and I are always going to continue to do what we think we have to do from our seat.”
It may be surprising to see Rondo so highly regarded in the Bulls organization after not always having the best relationship with his teammates and coaches this past season. But what Rondo brought to the table as a floor general down the stretch for the Bulls was a major boost and it would be tough to lose.
As for Butler, there have already been rumors floating around about him being traded to a team contending team, specifically the Boston Celtics who also have a high lottery pick in their back pocket.
Depending on how these two situations end up playing out, it could end up being a franchise-altering summer in Chicago.
