The Chicago Bulls have Jimmy Butler as their main priority in free agency after extending him a max qualifying offer and his contract could be signed soon and this comes as a Taj Gibson trade could be an option to free up cap space, as the team re-signed Mike Dunleavy and could look at adding more in free agency after drafting Bobby Portis in the first round.
Butler is the biggest priority for the Bulls this offseason, as he is their most significant player hitting the market in free agency. Butler is a restricted player so that gives the Bulls some advantages and they just made a move that should allow them to keep Butler moving forward. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Bulls extended Butler a qualifying offer and a max qualifying offer this offseason as he hits the free agent market, giving the team restricted rights to Butler. RealGM's Shams Charania reports Butler is "considering" the max deal from Chicago.
The Bulls have also made a move to keep free agent Mike Dunleavy, who was getting some attention on the market from the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Marc Stein at ESPN, Dunleavy and the Bulls have agreed on a three year deal worth around $15 million. Last season Dunleavy averaged 9.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and he remains an elite three point shooter.
Check here for more on Butler and his contract situation from Pro Basketball Talk. UPDATE: Butler is signing a max deal with the Bulls.
According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, the max contract is offer is for five years, $90 million and now the Bulls have forced any team making an offer sheet to Butler to go for no less than three years. Previously teams could go for just two years in offers and that was something that Butler planned to explore. According to Yahoo Sports, Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Butler is not likely meeting with other teams to start free agency after getting the offer from the Bulls. Butler previously was planning to meet with teams, but now it's less likely he will get a deal from someone other than Chicago.
The Lakers or someone else still could go after Butler, but the Bulls have the power to match and they would be fine if a deal was anywhere between three to five years. The team ideally wants to sign Butler to the max now before the cap goes up and Butler may want a shorter deal to maximize his value in free agency over the next few years. Either way it appears that Butler will remain in Chicago after having a career season and winning most improved player.
Yahoo Sports reported last week that Butler was interested in signing a short team deal over a max contract and that he could be interested in signing an offer sheet with the Lakers. That likely is off the table now, as the Bulls forced any team signing Butler to go for a three year deal at the minimum and that may push the Lakers out. LA is trying to sign LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love and/or DeAndre Jordan and they likely can't afford to also go after Butler now that the Bulls have extended that offer.