Tension within the Chicago Bulls between Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose hurt the team last year and was a part of the team outright missing the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference.
The Bulls now look on the verge of an implosion, with Pau Gasol publicly angry over how the season went and perhaps ready to leave. Rumblings of deals surrounding either Rose or Butler continue to make the rounds, too.
Butler, though, recently took to The Bill Simmons Podcast to talk about how the two can fit on the court well together:
I think us being one in the same player, maybe I’m a little taller, he’s a little faster, we can both attack the rim,” Butler explained. “We can both beat our guy and then get shots for other players. Finish at the rim, midrange and we can both really guard to tell you truth. Get out in the open floor. There are so many things that we have in common that when we utilize those things and play together like that, I think we can be just as unguardable as anybody else.
Folks will recall this note from ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell about tension among the players:
Rose was “the man” within the group, and Noah was the leader. Now Butler wants to be “the man” and the leader. Which has led to tension.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) April 15, 2016
Chicago has a lot of work to do this offseason if the team is to fix these sorts of issues. It will be interesting to see, too, how Butler and Rose can coexist together next season if both remain on the team after a summer of trade rumors.
In theroy, Butler is right in that he and Rose can be a dominant one-two punch on the court. It requires sacrifice from one or the other, though, which didn’t seem like something either was willing to do last year.
If Chicago decides to keep both guys on board, the front office has to pray Butler’s positive stance on the matter leads to an improvement on last year’s miserable showing.
