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Imrem: Butler truly most valuable with Chicago Bulls

Expect the clamor to trade Jimmy Butler to intensify after the Chicago Bulls' performance Sunday at Minnesota.

They were playing against Tom Thibodeau, their former coach, which made it a significant game.

Yet the Timberwolves led by 17 points after the first quarter, 26 in the second quarter and 117-89 at the end.

Way to man up against Thibodeau, fellas.

"Obviously," Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said, "we were outmanned."

Butler was out again with a bum heel. Dwyane Wade was out again with a bum wrist. Nikola Mirotic was out with back spasms.

So the Bulls were outmanned, no doubt.

But they didn't just lose, they lost by 28 points to a 20-34 Timberwolves team two nights after losing by 18 to a 16-37 Suns team.

Butler, Wade and Mirotic played in the game at Phoenix, by the way.

"A lot of (young) guys got great opportunities," Hoiberg said.

He didn't add that they appeared to be in the wrong gym. The YMCA is in another part of town.

It wasn't so much that the Bulls lost but how they lost. Players looked like they never played basketball before or at least never were coached before.

Seriously, you want to see this team play without Butler? You want to see a couple of young guys in his place? You want that after seeing the Bulls' current young popguns play against the Wolves?

An NBA writer quizzed me last week on what I would do, build around Butler or trade him for multiple young pieces?

"Neither," I said, because neither move would help the Bulls win anything that mattered in the near future.

A better answer came to me while watching the debacle at Minnesota.

Get rid of everybody else associated with the Bulls before even thinking about getting rid of Butler.

Tell me, how does a team trade a player who is better at what he does than anybody else in the franchise is at what he or she does?

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf? Butler is better. Club president Michael Reinsdorf? Butler is better. Executive vice president John Paxson? Butler is better. General manager Gar Forman? Butler is better. Head coach Fred Hoiberg? Butler is better. Any assistant coach? Butler is better. Any other player? Butler is better.

Considering that Bulls fans keep coming to the United Center, perhaps members of the marketing, ticket and public-relations departments are better than Butler.

Keep those people, but that's about it.

Everybody else has to go - either one by one or all at once - before the Bulls trade Jimmy Butler.

That assessment is coming from someone who isn't even Butler's biggest fan. He's just a little too annoying.

Still, sports is supposed to be a meritocracy, though it would be hard to tell by the way Jerry Reinsdorf's two teams conduct business.

First the Chicago White Sox traded Chris Sale, and it's difficult to imagine anyone with the Sox being more proficient than he was.

Now the conversation centers on whether the Bulls should trade Butler.

Teams have traded better players than Butler for a variety of reasons, but it rarely has worked out well for them.

Maybe their mistake was not dumping everyone else in their organizations first.

The Bulls shouldn't make that mistake.

Otherwise they'll look for a long time like they looked Sunday at Minnesota.

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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