Chicago Bulls Rumors: Caron Butler Would Be Final Piece of Championship Puzzle
The Chicago Bulls are a team that is one player away from being the best team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Last year, they were the No. 1 Seed in the postseason. However, they were steamrolled by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in five games. Chicago had no answer for LeBron James and his 25.8 points per game average. They were outmatched against the Heat, never having an option to shut down James.
If they would have had someone like Butler on their roster, it would have changed the dynamic of that series. However, Butler was injured and on the Dallas Mavericks roster last year.
This year, the Bulls have a chance at adding the Mavericks forward and evening the playing field with Miami.
According to CBSsports.com:
""Along with the Nets, Clippers, Bulls, Heat and Spurs, the Knicks also expressed interest in Caron Butler—but New York is going to be extremely careful not to eat into cap space next summer in the event Paul gets to free agency."
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Adding Butler not only gives Chicago more depth on their roster, it gives them the advantage over the Heat. If not only helping the Bulls get over the Heat, it also keeps other teams in the Eastern Conference from adding Butler to their roster.
Having Butler on their roster gives the Bulls the matchup they missed in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. When the 6’8" James was dominating Chicago last year, they had no shutdown defender.
With the 6’7" Butler, it would give Chicago a perfect matchup to eliminate LeBron. Butler has the quickness to keep up with James’ first step—along with the scoring touch, when Chicago moves the ball down the court.
When the Bulls had Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng on James last year, they did little to nothing to slow him down.
Yet in four of their five game series, James had point totals of 29, 22, 35 and 28. While in three of the five games, James had at least a double-double—either with 11 rebounds or 10 assists.
The Bulls are a great team. However, they are missing one piece from becoming that elite team. That one piece is Butler; who will push them over the top as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
