After the Chicago Bulls season ended last year with a second round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers there was a lot of talk around the team about a potential beef going on between Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose. Butler rose to stardom last year while Rose was dealing with injuries again and when the two played together things didn't go as well as they had hoped. Butler doesn't seem to think there is a beef between him and Rose but he reportedly did admit that the two need to develop better chemistry, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.
With Rose having to miss the beginning of last season to injury Butler needed to step up for the Bulls and he did. Butler was named an All-Star for the first time as he averaged 20 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from three. Butler officially became a great NBA player last season and it came at the perfect time for him as he was set to become a free agent.
There was talk about Butler possibly leaving the Bulls in free agency because of his tumultuous relationship with Rose but that was never going to happen because he was a restricted free agent and the Bulls would have matched any offer he received. Butler ended up signing a five year deal worth more than $92 million and will now be in Chicago for the long haul. Rose has two more years left on his deal at more than $20 million a year so Butler knows that he and Rose need to work things out as they will likely be teammates for at least the foreseeable future.
"I think we can, I think we will. And I think we better, because the way I look at it, I don't think either one of us is going anywhere anytime soon," said Butler when asked if he and Rose can gain chemistry together.
Butler seems to think the reason the feud between he and Rose was played up was because the Bulls weren't winning as much. He reportedly said that when the Bulls come out and start winning next year this won't be talked about and because the 25 year old shooting guard sees the Bulls winning a lot this year he doesn't see this "beef" being a problem. Butler might be right about the Bulls winning a lot next year but one of the keys to determining that will be how and if Rose and Butler can learn to co-exist.
