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CHICAGO (AP) -- There were no bold proclamations or promises for sweeping changes from Chicago Bulls management on Wednesday for a team that barely made the playoffs.
They gave no clarity on Jimmy Butler's future with the team and had no real answers when it came to Dwyane Wade's. Rajon Rondo looks like he will be welcomed back. The front office won't be getting a major makeover, and coach Fred Hoiberg will return for a third season.
"We've got a lot of guys under contract," said John Paxson, the executive vice president of basketball operations who was joined by general manager Gar Forman. "The landscape is such that to make significant change right now will be difficult."
The Bulls tried to operate on two fronts last year, trying to get younger while bringing in veterans, and it added up to more mediocrity for a franchise that missed the postseason in 2016. Chicago won 41 games and got back to the playoffs this year as an eighth seed. After bowing out against Boston in the first round, there are some big issues facing the organization.
The list starts with Butler. The question is whether the Bulls try to build around the three-time All-Star or trade one of the league's best two-way players.
Paxson didn't commit either way
"You always have to keep things open," he said.
Butler's name has circulated in trade rumors for a year, with Boston mentioned prominently as a landing spot. The lottery could help bring the picture into focus, with the Celtics owning the right to swap first-round picks with Brooklyn in this year's draft.
Keeping Butler could go a long way toward Wade exercising his $23.8 million option to return for a second season with his hometown team.
Paxson said the Bulls plan to meet with Butler again to discuss the organization's direction, and the same goes for Wade. Rondo, meanwhile, looks like he has a place in Chicago with Paxson saying there's "a really good chance" he returns. The team holds an option for next season on the contract he signed to join the Bulls last summer.
http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/03/bulls-management-gives-no-clarity-jimmy-butler-future
They gave no clarity on Jimmy Butler's future with the team and had no real answers when it came to Dwyane Wade's. Rajon Rondo looks like he will be welcomed back. The front office won't be getting a major makeover, and coach Fred Hoiberg will return for a third season.
"We've got a lot of guys under contract," said John Paxson, the executive vice president of basketball operations who was joined by general manager Gar Forman. "The landscape is such that to make significant change right now will be difficult."
The Bulls tried to operate on two fronts last year, trying to get younger while bringing in veterans, and it added up to more mediocrity for a franchise that missed the postseason in 2016. Chicago won 41 games and got back to the playoffs this year as an eighth seed. After bowing out against Boston in the first round, there are some big issues facing the organization.
The list starts with Butler. The question is whether the Bulls try to build around the three-time All-Star or trade one of the league's best two-way players.
Paxson didn't commit either way
"You always have to keep things open," he said.
Butler's name has circulated in trade rumors for a year, with Boston mentioned prominently as a landing spot. The lottery could help bring the picture into focus, with the Celtics owning the right to swap first-round picks with Brooklyn in this year's draft.
Keeping Butler could go a long way toward Wade exercising his $23.8 million option to return for a second season with his hometown team.
Paxson said the Bulls plan to meet with Butler again to discuss the organization's direction, and the same goes for Wade. Rondo, meanwhile, looks like he has a place in Chicago with Paxson saying there's "a really good chance" he returns. The team holds an option for next season on the contract he signed to join the Bulls last summer.
http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/03/bulls-management-gives-no-clarity-jimmy-butler-future
