Wojnarowski: 'Don't See A Scenario' Where Bulls Let Jimmy Butler Walk
(CBS) The biggest relevation for the Bulls nearly halfway through the season has been the ascension of wing Jimmy Butler, who's in line for his first All-Star appearance and averaging a career-high 21.9 points per game.
With his emergence has come an obvious question: The Bulls are going to re-sign Butler this offseason when he's a restricted free agent, right?
Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski told the Mully and Hanley on Show on Wednesday morning the answer will be yes.
"I don't think there's any scenario where the Bulls don't match a sheet," Wojnarowski said.
"Now, they may have to make some other decisions on the roster accordingly based on how they're going to have to pay Butler, but I don't see a scenario where the Bulls let him walk. That just can't happen. But maybe they have some tougher decisions to make elsewhere."
On the final day of October, Chicago and Butler failed to come to a contract extension on the deadline for fourth-year pros, making him an impending restricted free agent. The Bulls will have the ability to retain Butler by matching any offer from another team, which figures to be a max deal. Because they hold Butler's Bird Rights, the Bulls can exceed the salary cap to re-sign Butler.
Internally, the other decisions that Wojnarowski referred to figure to include what to do with forward Mike Dunleavy and backup point guard Aaron Brooks this offseason, as both will be free agents and probably capable of commanding more money from someone else. Externally on the free agent market, Chicago may have limited options because of a lack of salary cap space.
The core of these Bulls is locked up through 2016, which is when Joakim Noah is set to become a free agent. Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic are locked up through 2017. Pau Gasol is locked up through 2016 with a player option for the 2016-'17 season.