Chicago Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in Los Angeles, and naturally the rumors about him coming to the Los Angeles Lakers came up. Butler has been rumored to be a potential trade candidate for the Bulls for a while now, as he has expressed some displeasure with the organization’s front office.
With Butler being the team’s only star, it is possible that the Bulls head in a different direction and acquire some young assets for him while they can to rebuild for the future.
The two teams that currently own the most assets and could look to acquire Butler are the Lakers and Boston Celtics, both of which Kimmel brought up in the interview.
Being that he is under contract with the Bulls, Butler was not really able to address either of those options, although he did say that he loves Chicago and his loyalty lies there because they drafted him with the 30th pick in 2011 out of Marquette.
Butler still has three years remaining on the five-year, $92 million extension he signed with Chicago before the 2015-16 season, so the Bulls will likely not be in any rush to move him unless they are blown away by an offer.
With the Lakers currently focused on possibly trading for Indiana Pacers star Paul George, Butler ending up in Los Angeles is currently an unlikely scenario. Boston could break the bank for Butler though with all their young assets and being just one piece away from potentially competing with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.