NEW YORK — In the hours leading up to the NBA draft, the main question wasn't who would go first (Markelle Fultz) or second (Lonzo Ball). Instead, it was whether any of the three big names rumored to be on the trade block — Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis — would be dealt during Thursday night's festivities.
And while deals for George and Porzingis failed to materialize, the Chicago Bulls finally traded Butler after more than a year of rumors about the all-star forward’s future, sending him — along with the No. 16 pick, which turned into Creighton center Justin Patton — to the Minnesota Timberwolves for guards Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine plus the seventh pick in Thursday’s draft, which Chicago used to select Arizona forward Lauri Markkanen.
Butler’s long-term status in Chicago has been in doubt for some time despite the fact he is a three-time all-star who was a third-team all-NBA selection this past season, the first time he had received that honor. But instead of keeping Butler, who will turn 28 in September, the Bulls instead opted to commit to a full rebuild.
Minnesota, meanwhile, will reunite Butler with Tom Thibodeau, his first coach who is now running and coaching the Timberwolves, and will add him to former No. 1 overall picks Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, as well as Ricky Rubio. The deal makes the Timberwolves look like a playoff team in the Western Conference.
That’s before the possibility of Minnesota going out and spending big in free agency next month, where it could target Hawks all-star power forward Paul Millsap to round out what suddenly would be a formidable starting lineup.
The success or failure of this trade for the Bulls will come down to the performance of Dunn and LaVine, both of whom come with question marks. The Bulls were in discussions with Minnesota a year ago about a potential Butler trade before Minnesota eventually settled on Dunn with the fifth overall pick. Despite coming into the NBA as an older prospect, Dunn looked overmatched at times as a rookie, averaging 3.8 points and 2.4 assists in 78 games.
LaVine, meanwhile, has wowed early in his career with his impressive athleticism, winning the Slam Dunk Contest in his first two seasons. But that was before LaVine tore his anterior cruciate ligament midway through this past season — after a promising start that had him in the running to be the league’s most improved player, averaging 18.9 points. 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Chicago is going to need Dunn to make significant strides and LaVine to come back healthy to make this a successful deal.
Markkanen, meanwhile, is a sweet-shooting 7-footer who averaged 15.6 points and shot 42.3 percent from three-point range in his lone season at Arizona, and he could pave the way for Bulls starting power forward Nikola Mirotic to leave as a restricted free agent next month if his price tag gets too high.
In addition to the Butler trade, there were some smaller deals involving swaps of first-round picks. The Portland Trail Blazers acquired the 10th pick, which it used to select Gonzaga center Zach Collins, from the Sacramento Kings for the 15th pick (North Carolina forward Justin Jackson) and the 20th pick (Duke forward Harry Giles).
The Utah Jazz then swung a pair of trades, getting the 13th pick, which it used to select Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, from the Denver Nuggets for forward Trey Lyles and the 24th pick, which Denver used to take Syracuse forward Tyler Lydon. Utah then got the 28th pick from the Los Angeles Lakers and took North Carolina center Tony Bradley, sending back the 30th and 42nd picks in this year’s draft in exchange.
With the 30th pick, Los Angeles took Villanova star — and Sidwell Friends product — Josh Hart.
The Philadelphia 76ers made the other trade of the first round, sending a 2020 Oklahoma City Thunder first-rounder to the Orlando Magic for the 25th pick, which Philadelphia used to take Latvian center Anzejs Pasecniks, a draft-and-stash 7-footer who played for Gran Canaria in the Spanish League last season.
