There was a time when Chicago Bull Jimmy Butler was in the limelight, especially when Derrick Rose was out of commission. And he did make a good account for himself during that run.
Hence it proved that given the opportunity, Butler can indeed rise to the occasion and handle the spotlight. But with the Bulls that can only come on as needed basis which makes free agency after this season an interesting one. Butler is expected to be a target of several teams which include the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.
For the Lakers, setting their eyes on Butler is not surprising. With Kobe Bryant nearing perhaps the end of his career, Steve Nash expected to retire soon and Jeremy Lin set to be traded soon, the Lakers have the available cap space to offer to Butler.
Now that will not be easy of course considering the Bulls are expected to hold on to him. But that may all depend if Butler can still fit into their salary cap considering they already have a roster of high salaried players such as Rose, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol.
The worst scenario would perhaps see the Bulls wanting a trade for Butler to make sure that they get something in return. Butler is set to be a restricted free agent after this season.
For the Lakers, Butler is only one of many options they can target. The Lakers are expected to make a run at other free agents as well like Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs and Reggie Jackson of the OKC Thunder.
Trading may look impossible at this point, given the players they have on their roster. Hence, it may all boil down to which players they can convince in the offseason which should be a busy one for the Lakers, a team which is not used to being on the tail-end of the NBA.
