Thank the basketball Gods the Bulls still have a healthy Jimmy Butler — take note John Paxson and Gar Forman. The 3&D stud has upped this game this year, and helped the Bulls survive another rash of injuries that have kept Derrick Rose and free agent acqusition Pau Gasol during stretches already this season. Sure, they’d like to be in better position than their 8-5 record through the season’s first 13 games, but if it weren’t for Butler, we’re not sure they’d even be above .500. For the Chicago wing, their somewhat pedestrian record doesn’t matter because he’s pretty confident Chicago is a championship team, as you’ll see.
When USA Today‘s Sam Amick spoke with Butler last week and asked him if this current iteration of the Bulls was a title contender, Butler’s confidence was apparent.
“Hell yeah, it’s a championship team,” said Butler. “We’re going to win that (expletive).”
A native of Tomball, Texas, Butler was homeless at the age of 13 before getting adopted, starring at Marquette and getting drafted with the 30th pick in the 2011 Draft.
But Butler, who was looking for a max extension before the Oct. 31 deadline, but was not given an extension and will be a restricted free agent on July 1, isn’t concerned with what outsiders think of this Bulls team. While his confidence is commendable, we’re not sure many would be so convinced the Bulls are in the title hunt just yet.
“Whatever everybody says on the outside we don’t pay attention to because we’re the ones who have to go out there and win games,” Butler said. “It’s us against the world. Some people are on our side, and some people aren’t. That’s how it is.
As for the injury issues, Butler showed a maturity beyond his 25 years.
“We’ve got a team full of NBA players just like everybody else. One guy goes down, and the next has to step up and produce. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want anybody to get hurt, but we still have a team full of good guys and we can still win games… We’re a good team. We play hard. You know, everything doesn’t go your way, but we can only control the things that we can control.”
As for whether or not he’s going somewhere else if another team dangles that max extension this summer, Bulls fans can breathe a sigh of relief — at least for now. Butler isn’t upset or bitter he couldn’t get a max extension done with notoriously frugal Bulls brass this summer.
“Nah, nah,” said Butler. “I love the city of Chicago. I think everybody knows that. I just feel like I’ve just got to help win games, man. I want a championship. The money has never been an issue because I’m from Tomball. The money I make now is more than nothing. I just wanted to prove to my teammates, to my coaches, to the city, that I’m here to stay.”
Through 13 games, Butler is averaging career highs in points (20.4), rebounds (6.2) assists (3.5) and true shooting percentage (59.4), and as Amick points out he’s the frontrunner for the Most Improved Player of the Year award.
But all Butler has his sites on is a trip to the Finals in June. If his confidence is any indication, he thinks he’ll be playing for a title right up until he’s got to make a difficult free agency decision in July.
Are the Bulls really title contenders?
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