Why can't Jimmy be apart of that process though (assuming he still wants to be a Bull)? If Jimmy wants to be here, moving him for the #3 pick doesn't make sense.
The Bulls have some young, promising players. Mirotic still has some room to grow, McDermott took a positive step last year and became much more efficient, Bobby Portis looks like a steal and Feliciano and Holiday even showed some flashes.
The Bulls have an opportunity to add to that young group this off-season and by trading Gibson, could add even more.
You are pretty much suggesting a tanking strategy but as we have seen in Philly, that doesn't always work. Heck, you pretty much have to be a really bad team and then hope you get the ping pong balls to fall the right way so you can get the top pick. Even then, you have to hope there is a transcendent talent coming out that year to really make that pick worthwhile.
That is really a process you cannot control. The odds of those things happening are extremely slim and no matter what you think of the Bulls FO ability to bring in FA's, it's much more likely that they bring in a top FA than get that transcendent young talent. It's also something you have more control over.
Otherwise you can very well end up like teams such as the Kings who pick in the lottery every year and don't get anywhere.
I would rather the Bulls keep Butler if he wants to stay, get what you can for Rose and Gibson, be smart in FA and go into the year seeing what these young guys can do with some real court time. If a few of those young guys have solid seasons, it looks a lot more attractive to have Butler and some young promising players.
