The Bulls and Jimmy Butler have taken very different paths since the two separated in 2017.
The Chicago Bulls traded star wing Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the summer of 2017. Since then, the two parties have gone in drastically different directions.
Butler, the No. 30 overall pick by Chicago in the 2011 NBA Draft, was a three-time All-Star in the Windy City and played on five playoff teams over six years. After sending him to Minnesota, the Bulls have made the postseason just once, while Butler-led teams have yet to miss the playoffs.
The difference between Butler's and the Bulls' fortunes is stark. Over his six seasons in Chicago, the Bulls won 276 regular-season games and 16 playoff games. In more than eight seasons without the talented wing, the Bulls have won 275 regular-season games and one playoff game.
Butler, on the other hand, has won 303 regular-season and 50 playoff games since leaving Chicago, across his time in Minnesota, Miami and Golden State. That discrepancy is even worse when considering the fact that the Bulls have played 652 games (.422 winning percentage), while Butler still surpasses his former team in wins in only 491 games (.617).
Now with the Warriors, the likely future Hall-of-Famer returned to Chicago on Sunday night to handle his former team, 123-91. Butler was surprised to hear the statistic, but remained hopeful that the Bulls would turn things around soon.
"That's a hell of a stat, wow," Butler told Drew Stevens of The Bigs Media. "They'll figure it out. The city deserves that, I will say that. The city deserves to win, to be in the playoffs, to compete, because that atmosphere is like none other that I've been around. But it's definitely coming. It's a growing thing, and when they figure it out here, for this city, the team's for sure going to show up and show out, and the fans will."
Butler finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the Warriors' 32-point victory. The 36-year-old is averaging 19.5 points on 51.9% shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game in his 15th season.
The Bulls, meanwhile, dropped to 9-14 with their seventh consecutive defeat. Chicago has lost 10 of its last 13 games and is still searching for an elite rising star to lead its rebuilding effort. Even though players like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic have earned All-Star nods, none have come close to matching Butler's impact on winning.
Butler brought the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals twice, losing to the Lakers in 2020 and the Nuggets in 2023.