The Bulls reportedly were in hot pursuit of Dunn and ready to make the move for a Dunn-LaVine package, but the Wolves wouldn’t pull the trigger.
Advertisement
Denzel Valentine, welcome to Chicago. But Forman, in a display of semantics gymnastics, held to the fact that the Bulls weren’t actively shopping Butler.
Boasting averages of 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.8 assists and shooting 44.4 percent from the 3-point line in his final season with Spartans, Valentine will bring a rounded offensive game to Chicago and will offer head coach Fred Hoiberg another quality passer and shot creator to use within his rotations. But he also missed four games for arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in December.
“I never talked to Tom during this whole process”, Forman said. “I may have a little bit of wear and tear like everybody else, but I’m excited to get going”.
“It’s all about ’17 for them, ” a league source said.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls have again broken off trade talks centered on a deal of Jimmy Butler for the draft rights to Kris Dunn.
But the Celtics have a reputation around the league of trying to win trades, and the overall package kept changing and never met the Bulls’ liking, sources said. “We’ve talked about, we value Jimmy Butler, we’re very happy to have Jimmy Butler”.
With the Celtics having a horde of lottery picks this year and a valuable 2017 first-round pick courtesy of the Brooklyn Nets, the Bulls would likely ask for every single asset the Celtics own, and it didn’t seem likely the Celtics were willing to part with everything they had, even to acquire a player of Butler’s caliber.
Advertisement
So, were the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves talking to the fake Gar Forman last night? He was in an area off limits to reporters. The two-time All-star guard failed to lead Chicago to the playoffs triggering rumors that the Bulls are looking to trade him this offseason. Though he’s a combo guard and not a pure point guard, he’s comfortable handling the ball and making plays, and scouts say he’s an excellent passer.
