The Chicago Bulls were a very good team last year. They had a 50-32 record and they reached the second round of the playoffs. This season, the team has little to no chance at making the playoffs. Firing former head coach Tom Thibodeau and hiring Fred Hoiberg hasn’t produced any meaningful results. Derrick Rose has been reasonably healthy this season and even he couldn’t make a big difference. The main reason for the fall of the Bulls is Jimmy Butler.

Butler has done well to maintain his All-Star status that he earned last season. One could even say that Butler has elevated his performance this season. He is averaging a career-high in points (21) and assists per game (4.6). He has solidified his place as the focal point of the team. He was also selected to another All-Star game this season, but he had to miss the game because of injury. So why is Butler the main reason for the Bulls and their fall from the top of the conference?

Butler has become an All-Star player, but he doesn’t have All-Star leadership. Players performed better when Rose was the focal point because although Rose was injured, he led by example and didn’t try to cause unrest amongst the players. Rose has said some questionable things, but he hasn’t said or done anything that should make anybody question his devotion to his teammates.

Because Butler can’t unite the Bulls’ locker room, the Bulls organization needs to take matters into their own hands and trade Butler. Since Hoiberg is in his first year as a head coach in the NBA, Butler was supposed to work with him. Butler hasn’t earned enough clout like LeBron James such that he can repeatedly disagree with a coach. The Bulls should see that a partnership between Butler and Hoiberg will not work.

There have been rumors that Butler may not be playing for the Bulls next season. If those rumors happen to be true, it would be a mutually beneficial situation for Butler and the Bulls. Butler gets out of a “sinking ship” and the Bulls can rebuild with a more unified locker room. For Bulls fans, it would be for the best if the team didn’t keep Butler this offseason.