I have a feeling that one of these players will be packaged in a trade and dealt to another team. If you had to pick one to stay, who would it be?
I am not persuaded that they have to give up either player. Having said that, keeping Crowder is a no-brainer.
If you want to persuade Chicago to give us Jimmy Butler, you're gonna have to give up a proven player...in fact, wasn't their demand to get Crowder along with our BKN pick?
I don't think I know why you'd have to give up a proven player, or what "proven" means. Tyler Zeller has proven that he's an NBA player, for example. The Celtics are in the phase of the cycle where they've got core guys they're building around. Any team in the league would like to get Crowder right now, but he's worth more to the Celtics than anyone else. If Paxson/Forman need Crowder in the deal, I say no - even though Butler is the better player right now.
Chicago's situation is quite different from what it was a year ago - they're very disappointed and are open to drastic measures. Pau had a great year but 36-year olds need help; they ran a large volume of offense through him that can't be sustained. The logical course of action would be to blow it up and build around Butler, but in their final press conference Paxson/Forman didn't signal that at all - while going out of their way to support Hoiberg.
So they dump Butler and go to war with Rose's knees, Dunleavy's back, Noah's knees and shoulder, etc.? No. Absent Butler, they'll need to clear out salary and find young players. The range of draft picks that the Celtics have probably look real intriguing.