The Bulls are reportedly actively shopping Jimmy Butler around to apparently get an early start on their rebuild. The current favorites are the Celtics and Cavaliers with reports surfacing Tuesday that it's only a matter of time before Butler is dealt.
According to Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago, a deal could have happened a lot sooner than anybody was expecting. The Bulls are looking for assets as they shop around Butler and the Celtics have more than any team in the league. Chicago went to them and offered Butler for the No. 3 pick of the 2017 NBA draft. It was a straight-up offer with nothing else attached. Reportedly, the Celtics said no to the offer. Here's more from Goodwill:
The Bulls were rebuffed on an offer to the Celtics for the third pick straight-up, but bringing the Cavaliers to the table could increase the quality of offers for Butler, who would be eligible for a deal in the $40 million range annually if he makes another All-NBA team next season.
If it's true that Boston said no for this offer then they're either in love with their draft pick choice or there's some information missing here. It's insane that Chicago's value of Butler is so low they would only take a single draft pick in this year's draft for him, but it's even crazier the Celtics would say no to that. It's no secret they want to turn their assets into stars so why pass on the perfect opportunity to do so.
The draft is Thursday and already there are rumors flying everywhere. The upcoming draft might be the most memorable in quite awhile.
