The original trade is insane. I thought it was someone who might have bumped their heads but it's just trollboy16f.
PER 36 (this is one of those times per 36 works well):
IT: 24.8 ppg, 3.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists, .562 true shooting percentage, $7m/yr contract
Butler: 20.4 ppg, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, .563 true shooting percentage, $19m/yr contract
They're basically the same age. So offensively, Butler gains you absolutely nothing. Nada. If anything, IT is the superior offensive player. Defensively, there's little doubt Butler >>>> IT. So if everything is equal, I'd rather have Butler.
But everything isn't equal. So is Butler's superiority on the defensive end worth $12m a year? Maybe, but probably not. Is it worth $12m a year AND a top 5 pick? Not just no, but 7734 (calculator humor) no.
Good post...
Not really
And Bulls are not likely taking number 3-5 as a centerpiece asset for Butler. It would need to include crowder or IT etc.
Butler overall is a better player. The other poster is confused , talking out loud. End conclusion Butler is better overall.
Plus is receiving a fair contract.
For a change I do agree with Triboy here.
It's hard to imagine Chicago trading Butler here for JUST a 3-5 range pick. He's worth far, far more then that.
On the other hand, I do also feel that the proposed trade (Thomas + 3-5 pick + more) is a bit excessive and doesn't do much for us.
Butler is an excellent scorer - one of the best in the NBA. But he's not as good a scorer as Thomas. Thomas is kinda more suited to being your #1 offensive option because of his style of play - he's just REALLY good at creating his own offence. Butler isn't too far off Thomas offensively, but he's not quite on the same level.
To me the idea of getting Butler was so appealing because I wanted to pair him with Thomas - he would give us that second go-to scorer that we desperately need, without sacrificing anything defensively. Personally, I'd put Butler at the SF spot (rather than SG) and go with a Thomas / Bradley / Butler perimeter lineup. That lineup would be absolutely devastating offensively and outstanding defensively (even with Thomas in there).
Unfortunately that makes Crowder the odd man out, and so there seems to be little point in us holding on to him. I don't think it's fair to bring him off the bench behind Butler - he is too talented for that, and deserves a bigger role.
So I think the best thing to do would be to send the Brooklyn pick (3-5) and Crowder, then add filler as needed to get the deal done. I would do that trade without hesitation because replacing Crowder with Butler is a major upgrade offensively, without sacrificing anything on defence. It's a move that makes us MUCH better.
Trading IT for Butler..I don't know. It's giving up one scorer to gain another...and then replacing Thomas with Smart at PG really hurts us (we've seen this from our previous attempts at it).
I think we really need to keep Thomas.
I love Butler, but I'd prefer to keep Crowder at SF and Butler at SG simply because of the defensive versatility they'd bring.
They can both guard pretty much anyone on the court other than traditional centers and would make us extremely hard to score on.
I just think that overall for our championship hopes, Crowder is the better answer with Butler here.
If we could somehow keep Smart AND Crowder in a Butler trade (probably only possible with the #2 or perhaps #3 pick), Smart could play Avery's role defensively off the bench and hopefully improve his 3 point shooting.
I personally just don't see the point.
From what I'm seeing, Crowder offers pretty much nothing that we wouldn't get from Butler. They are the same height, both strong/physical guys, but similar levels of athleticism. Butler offers similar defensive versatility.
To me having Crowder and Butler at the same time is just completely redundant.
I would much rather have Bradley and Butler on the court, because they have different skill sets that I feel compliment each other better.
For example, Bradley is a much better outside shooter then Crowder or Butler, and he's much quicker and more athletic. Bradley has the ability to defend really quick PG's who guys like Butler and Crowder might have trouble with, and he has the ability to pressure the ball in ways that Crowder and Butler can't do nearly as effectively.
I feel this is a big reason why Bradley and Crowder worked so well. Crowder handled the bigger, stronger opponent on defence, while Bradley handled the smaller and more agile guy.
For example if you look at the Warriors - Bradley is much better equipped to slow down Steph Curry then either Butler or Crowder is. However Bradley would struggle with a guy as big as Klay Thompson, which is where Butler / Crowder would come in to play.
It's all about finding pieces that complement each other, so that the overall team can amount to more than the sum of it's parts.
Crowder improved a lot this year offensively, but he's still nowhere near dependable enough a shooter to be trusted as a legit #2 or #3 option. Simply but, Crowder just isn't the type of guy who is able to create his own shot - he depends a lot on catch/shoot opportunities, and beyond that he tends to just put his head down and drive recklessly into traffic.
Contrary to what many people here think, Bradley is actually quite solid at creating his own shot. He's not good enough at it to the point where he can be your go-to scorer, but he is very good at cutting, at using screens, and at using his dribble to create space. When he does so, he's got a very quick release and is actually very good at making contested jumpers - and he is lightning quick (and a very good finisher nowdays) in transition.
With Thomas, Bradley and Butler you have three perimeter players on the court who are all capable of creating offence. That's critical when it comes to close games and playoff games, because it makes it harder for teams to lock you down at the end of games, in clutch moments. If they throw their attention at Thomas and Butler, then you can get the ball to Bradley and he can get off a shot.
I kinda feel that Bradley is absolutely perfectly suited to that type of role, and would be a brilliant fit alongside Thomas and Butler. Like a match made in heaven.