Jimmy Butler Says He Wasn’t on the Same Page With Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah

Jimmy Butler said all of the right things after the Bulls traded Derrick Rose this summer, but with the former MVP’s return to Chicago looming, Butler admits that he, Rose and Joakim Noah drifted apart last season.

Butler says roles were ill-defined on a team that ended up missing the Playoffs.

Butler hopes Bulls fans show their appreciation for both Noah and Rose tonight:

“I don’t think guys had different visions on what it took to win. I don’t think everybody was on the same page, truthfully, for what guys’ roles was going to be,” Butler finally confessed to CSNChicago.com. “That’s what it came down to, to tell the truth. I think that you look at the talent each individual had, everybody wanted to show how good they could be on any given night.”

 

Butler admitted his passion, probably displayed in terms of being more passive-aggressive than straightforward last year, was likely misinterpreted.

 

“Definitely. You can call it what you wanna call it,” Butler said to CSNChicago.com “But you look around here now, and I guess I learned from my mistakes if I was making mistakes. But I want to win. Everybody wants to win, not saying they didn’t, but everybody in here is studying the game, everybody is working. I have no bad things to say about them two, not about Pau (Gasol) either. But we got a new group of guys, and I like the direction we’re moving in.”

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