Jimmy Butler is taking a chance on Jimmy Butler.
With Friday's midnight deadline for an extension on his rookie contract looming, Butler has walked away from the negotiating table with the Chicago Bulls, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
“It came down to me deciding that I want to bet on myself,” Butler told Wojnarowski in a text message.
Butler's agent told Wojnarowski that they didn't feel the Bulls' final offer was commensurate with Butler's talent, pointing to other extensions that have been consummated around the league as comparables.
The pressure now falls on Butler to continue his ascension as one of the league's best two-way shooting guards. While he struggled with his shot in 2013-14, a healthy Butler with a 3-point stroke is a championship piece, thanks largely to his elite perimeter defense.
It's difficult to evaluate Butler's decision, or Chicago's, without knowing the figures exchanged. It's especially difficult with so much uncertainty around a rising salary cap, where executives feel a $12-million deal today could look like $10 million tomorrow. That probably makes players more aggressive in their demands, whereas teams may not want to commit money based on hypotheticals with an uncertain timeline.
With Klay Thompson getting a max extension on Friday and Alec Burks getting $10.5 million annually, Butler's market value probably stands somewhere north of $12 million. He's taking a risk, though, in playing out the year without guaranteed long-term money.
As he said, he's betting on his continued improvement to up his value even further. There's injury risk and a slight chance he takes a step back, but it's tough to fault him for waiting to see what the 2015 market will bear. As for the Bulls, they remain committed to flexibility, but they risk a competing team getting very aggressive with Butler next summer, perhaps past the point they're willing to match.
