National Basketball Association

Jimmy Butler can't sign one-year contract unless it's with Bulls

Published Jun. 30, 2015 6:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Steve DelVecchio

Jimmy Butler was reportedly hoping to leave the Chicago Bulls this offseason to sign a short-term deal with another team, but that is not going to happen.

According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the Bulls made Butler — a restricted free agent — a Maximum Qualifying Offer on on Monday. The team also reportedly made a one-year qualifying offer worth $4.5 million.

What does that mean? In its simplest form, Butler can’t leave the Bulls to sign a one-year deal with another team. He was said to be interested in doing that so he could sign a max deal when the salary cap increases after the 2015-2016 season, but a Max Qualifying Offer makes it so restricted free agents cannot sign anything less than a three-year deal with a new team.

As we mentioned before, Butler would be guaranteed every penny of a five-year, $90 million contract if he accepts the Max Qualifying Offer. It’s possible that his rumored interest in signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers was planted by Butler’s own agents in an attempt to put the squeeze on the Bulls.

If Butler is unhappy with the max contract offer, he can either sign the one-year, $4.5 million offer sheet or compromise with a four-year deal that allows him to opt out after three seasons and capitalize on new salary cap money.

The bottom line is that it is now highly unlikely that Butler leaves the Bulls. In fact, Broussard reports that he postponed meetings with several teams — one of which is the Lakers — after Chicago made the Max Qualifying offer on Monday.

Butler had a breakout season last year and averaged a career-high 20 points per game. The Bulls were not going to let him walk, even if there is reason to believe there is tension between Butler and Chicago’s biggest star.

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