A league source again acknowledged that one of the issues that has left Butler willing to play hardball with the Bulls in his push to hit the free-agent market sooner than later was because he’s turned off with the idea that it’s “Derrick Rose’s team.’’
Not that the old coaching regime didn’t see this coming, as the feeling back in training camp was that Rose and Butler were two alpha males that would have a hard time existing and could be headed for a collision of egos.
That relationship didn’t exactly improve as the season went on, either, as Butler took notice of the special treatment Rose, as well as Joakim Noah, received from the team’s director of sports performance, Jen Swanson. In Butler’s mind, while he and the likes of veterans Pau Gasol and Mike Dunleavy were busting it every day they could in practice, Rose and Noah had permission to sit out practices and certain drills under Swanson’s care.
