Trade jolts draft: Butler to Timberwolves
The long-anticipated reunion between Jimmy Butler and Tom Thibodeau is on.
The Chicago Bulls traded three-time AllStar Jimmy Butler and the 16th overall pick in Thursday night's NBA draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 overall pick as the Timberwolves try end a 13-year playoff drought.
The trade brings together Butler and Timberwolves coach and president Thibodeau, who coached the Bulls for five seasons before being fired in 2015. Butler gives Thibodeau the scorer and hardnosed defender that he has been searching for to complement a promising young core.
But Minnesota paid a big price: Besides surrendering the lottery pick, they gave up a rising star in LaVine, who is coming off of a torn ACL, and Dunn, last year's No. 5 overall pick.
Butler played for Thibodeau for four seasons in Chicago, developing from an unheralded, late-first round draft pick into a perennial All-Star. The two strong-willed workaholics clashed on occasion during their time together, and Butler said last summer that it was "love-hate" relationship.
The Timberwolves drafted Arizona sharpshooter Lauri Markkanen for the Bulls at No. 7 and the Bulls took Creighton forward Justin Patton at No. 16 for Minnesota. Patton is a 6-foot-11 forward who was the Big East freshman of the year after averaging 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last season.
Cavs in tough spot
No pick. No picker. Unable to pull off a trade or move into the first round of the NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't add a significant player or fill a major hole in their front office.
A stumbling start to the offseason staggers on.
Owner Dan Gilbert's search to replace departed general manager David Griffin remains unresolved as talks with former NBA star Chauncey Billups have not progressed to a job offer. Two sources familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Thursday that Gilbert has not yet extended a contract proposal to Billups to head the team's front office.
While the Billups situation remained in flux, Cleveland's front office is led by assistant GM Koby Altman, who worked the phones trying to make a draftday trade. Nothing materialized, and the Cavs did not have a pick in the two-round draft.