4 Bulls' storylines, including Jimmy Butler, behind 2023 NBA Finals
Butler tops Bulls' storylines behind 2023 NBA Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The NBA Finals begin Thursday night in Denver.
The Denver Nuggets are vying for the franchise’s first NBA title, while the Miami Heat seek to become the first No. 8 seed to win it all.
Here are four Chicago Bulls-related reasons to watch:
Jimmy Butler
The Bulls’ 2011 draft pick has risen from Luol Deng’s understudy to landing on the short list for the game’s best two-way players. He’s also authoring a postseason run for the ages.
The Eastern Conference finals most valuable player has led the No. 8 Heat to series victories over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, fifth-seeded New York Knicks and second-seeded Boston Celtics by averaging 28.5 points, 7 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 17 games.
Just as important, Butler has displayed the hard-nosed, no-nonsense demeanor that has defined his career and which permeates the Heat franchise. It’s all about hard work and accountability, which is why Butler has proven such a snug fit on his fourth team.
Six years after the Bulls traded him to enter a full rebuild, Butler is making his sixth straight playoff appearance, second NBA Finals appearance and searching for his first ring. The Bulls have made one playoff appearance, winning one game, in that span.
Bulls’ offseason work
The disparity between Butler’s postseason path and the Bulls’ since that 2017 trade should be enlightening. In fact, the worst thing Bulls management could do is rationalize a close play-in loss to the Heat and the current state of NBA parity as justification for a complacent offseason.
While it is wild to recall how ripe the Heat were for the taking back on April 14 before the Bulls went ice cold and turnover-happy down the stretch of their play-in loss, Butler’s dominant presence alone serves as reminder of the disparity between the rosters.
Especially since Lonzo Ball’s unfortunate injury saga that has his future availability in jeopardy, the Bulls lack two-way players. The Heat feature several, with Butler among the game’s best.
The Heat also have surrounded Butler with shooters, including 2022 Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro, whose absence since the first half of the first playoff game due to his fractured hand makes this run even more impressive. Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent remain on white-hot rolls; the Heat, at 39 percent, are shooting 4.6 percent better than their regular-season mark from 3-point range.
Factor in an athletic, rim-protecting center like Bam Adebayo and it's easy to see how much work the Bulls have to do to open a championship window, a task made all the more difficult by Ball's injury. Coach Billy Donovan and his staff coached a top-five defense even without a plethora of two-way players or much rim protection, thanks in large part to Alex Caruso landing on first-team All-NBA defense and solid team principles.
But executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas acknowledged the need for the Bulls to change their shot profile and address league-worst 3-point shooting in his season-ending news conference. While Karnišovas said he isn't focused on another full rebuild, he did acknowledge his "responsibility is to look at everything" at that same mid-April news conferece.
"At the end of the day, to be a .500 team is not good enough. It’s not good enough for this organization. It’s not good enough for the fan base. They deserve better, so I’m going to have to look at everything,” Karnišovas said on April 15. “How can I help this group to do better? We have to move forward. But I’ll be open to anything."
This could range from aggressively working the margins to add the right pieces via salary-cap exceptions in free agency to perhaps gauging the trade market to break up the team's core with Nikola Vucevic potentially headed to unrestricted free agency.
Nikola Jokić
Karnišovas worked in the Nuggets’ front office as general manager when the franchise used the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft to select the two-time most valuable player.
Perhaps as a sign even the Nuggets didn’t know how great Jokić would be, they acquired center Jusuf Nurkić in the first round, using draft rights acquired from the Bulls in the Doug McDermott trade. The Nuggets also acquired Gary Harris’ draft rights from the Bulls in the same draft that netted the Minnesota Timberwolves Zach LaVine.
But the Nuggets clearly picked the right center to build around, trading Nurkić to the Portland Trail Blazers in February 2017. Jokić has grown not only into one of the game’s all-time greats but one of the great watches, using his unique ability of size, skill, passing ability and high basketball IQ to churn out below-the-rim highlight after below-the-rim highlight.
In the 2023 playoffs, Jokić is averaging a mind-boggling 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists in 15 games.
Jokić commented on Karnišovas' hiring when the Nuggets visited the United Center in March 2021.
"I just have a long relationship with him. He’s from Europe so (we) have a similar mindset. He’s a great guy to have," Jokić said then. "This is a new challenge for him. I’m looking forward to see what he’s going to do. They have an All-Star this year [LaVine] so that’s a good thing. I wish him all the best."
Max Strus
Another former Bull and full-on local product, Strus has overcome a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered while on a two-way contract in Chicago to provide toughness and 3-point shooting in a starting role. He also has earned Butler’s respect along the way, a prized commodity from a player who doesn’t suffer complacency.
Strus played at Stagg High School, Division II Lewis University and DePaul before signing with the Boston Celtics. But current Bull Javonte Green beat him out in training camp for the final roster spot, clearing the way for the Bulls to sign Strus to a two-way deal.
Two months later, Strus tore his ACL during a G League game. Following that rehabilitation, the Heat signed him to yet another two-way contract. Now here he is, set to take averages of 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 35.9 percent 3-point shooting into the NBA Finals.
Strus sank seven 3-pointers and matched Butler with 31 points in that April 14 play-in game on a night the Heat shot just 41 percent and were there for the taking by the Bulls.
Instead, the Bulls have been idle for almost seven weeks, while Strus, Butler and the Heat are headed to the NBA Finals against Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets.
