default-cbs-image

Jimmy Butler was traded from the Bulls to the Timberwolves in one of the real stunning moves of the summer. Butler is a bona fide star and not a player that most franchises would give up on. But his personality was always an awkward fit in Chicago.

One of those clashes was with Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. It was no secret that Butler and Hoiberg failed to see eye to eye on nearly everything. They always maintained professionalism but the personalities were never a great fit. Butler all but confirmed this in an interview with Michael Pina at VICE Sports.

"I'm confrontational. I feed off of confrontation. It makes me go. Not everybody's like that. [Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg] is not that coach, and there's nothing wrong with that. There are different coaching styles and people are gonna say — which is what they did say — 'It's gonna be Jimmy's team or it's gonna be Fred's team.' Two total opposite ends of the spectrum. They're either gonna try to win it now or they're gonna go young. And you see which way they went with it. Completely fine. Yo, it's y'all's business. It's y'all's organization. It's cool. And now I'm in Minnesota and couldn't be happier."  

Butler isn't wrong that the Bulls did have to make a choice on whether they were going to try and win now with him or go younger with Hoiberg. That's essentially what the trade came down to when they sent him to Minnesota to acquire Zach Lavine. However, while there's no love lost here, it doesn't feel like Butler is taking a shot at his former coach.

He's acknowledging that there was a personality conflict with Hoiberg. In the end, their different visions of the team couldn't co-exist and the organization made its choice: They went with youth. Now, Butler will get a fresh start in Minnesota with ready-to-go young talent surrounding him.