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Tom Thibodeau confirmed that the Chicago Bulls will start Jimmy Butler at shooting guard next season.

"He does, he does," said Thibodeau. "I thought he had tremendous growth last year, and I think it started at the conclusion of his rookie year. He came into the gym and worked every day, had a terrific Summer League, and came right back into the gym in August. And he just got better and better throughout the season."

Butler averaged 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the playoffs last season.

Via Zach Lowe/ESPN

Congrats to Jimmy Butler. He earned it.

Huge starting lineup (beasty) still need to pickup another wing or s.g. Depends where they put dunlevy

This is great. The starting lineup can def do some damage. A great defender too.

RoyalMajesty wrote:Congrats to Jimmy Butler. He earned it.

Agreed. Butler can play and had to prove it by working his way into a mentally tough, veteran team. Good story for the Association
-Celtics fan

nice! congrats for him.

Cannon wrote:Huge starting lineup (beasty) still need to pickup another wing or s.g. Depends where they put dunlevy

Bulls are pretty much set except a backup center. They need someone to step in when Noah is injured, which is bound to happen.

PG=Rose (36) & Hinrich (12)
SG=Butler (20), Dunleavy (20), Hinrich (8)
PF=Boozer (24) & Gibson (24)
SF=Deng (34) & Butler (14)
C=Noah (30), ???????? (10), Boozer (8)

RoyalMajesty wrote:

Cannon wrote:Huge starting lineup (beasty) still need to pickup another wing or s.g. Depends where they put dunlevy

Bulls are pretty much set except a backup center. They need someone to step in when Noah is injured, which is bound to happen.

PG=Rose (36) & Hinrich (12)
SG=Butler (20), Dunleavy (20), Hinrich (8)
PF=Boozer (24) & Gibson (24)
SF=Deng (34) & Butler (14)
C=Noah (30), ???????? (10), Boozer (8)

Bulls resigned Nazr and are rumored to be interested in Camby. Plus they can get away with Boozer/Taj at the 4 and 5 for stretches and there just aren't a lot of traditional "5" Centers out there anymore....

according to Tom Thibodeau himself in an interview on Grantland:

"You need everybody. You never know how a season will unfold. The thing about our roster is that we have great versatility. Jimmy, Luol, Mike Dunleavy, and Tony Snell — all four are capable of playing 2 [shooting guard], 3 [small forward], and even some 4 [power forward]. Hinrich and Derrick can both play the point and the 2. Taj and Joakim can play both the 4 and 5 [center]. We have great versatility."

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... oakim-noah

Bulls also drafted a 6'-10" forward named Erick Murphy (not the guy from HBO's entourage). He apparently is a good 3 point shooter and drawn comparisons to Matt Bonner.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/p ... rik-murphy

I like this kid coming from a heat fan lol but he has talent