First year Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg had major heart surgery before joining the Bulls. His doctors definitely didn’t prescribe a rookie Chicago coaching campaign that saw the Bulls miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. They wouldn’t have suggested butting heads with All-Star guard Jimmy Butler either, but Hoiberg did.
It’s all water under the bridge now, though, according to Hoiberg. Because if there’s one thing Butler seemed to chafe at more than Hoiberg’s free-flow offense (despite averaging a career-high 21 ppg in it), it was the ghost of Derrick Rose, once a franchise player and NBA MVP, but of late an injury-riddled enigma. Rose was traded to the Knicks. Hoiberg reportedly has met with Butler a few times already this offseason. At a Bulls press conference after the Rose trade, Hoiberg reported that Butler is in “a great frame of mind.” He should be: he’s making about $100 million over five years. Though the Bulls are headed to rebuilding territory…
