Mark Wahlberg, Who is BFF with Jimmy Butler, Wants the Celtics to Trade For the Bulls' Star
By Jason McIntyre
Allow me to preface this information with two notes: 1) I keep saying this is the summer of the Super Teams. They’re coming. Like LaVar Ball, maybe I can speak it into existence. 2) Danny Ainge is the Godfather of Super Teams, starting with trading for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2007.
Mark Wahlberg and Jimmy Butler are tight. The Tribune chronicled their friendship in 2016. This week, TMZ asked Wahlberg about what the Celtics should do in the upcoming NBA draft. He said Boston should trade the #1 pick for Butler.
Hmmmm.
Is this Butler speaking through Wahlberg, sending out a smoke signal that he’s ready to go to Boston and compete for a title? The Bulls nearly took down the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, surging to a 2-0 lead until Rajon Rondo got hurt. Then Boston won four straight.
Boston boss Danny Ainge doesn’t follow conventional wisdom when it comes to the draft. In 2014 he surprised a lot of people by taking Marcus Smart with Julius Randle still on the board. In 2016 he shocked everyone by grabbing Jaylen Brown 3rd overall.
If the Celtics offered the #1 pick and some combination of Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder or Marcus Smart (choose two of three) to Chicago for Butler, would the Bulls do it?
The organization is a mess, from coach Fred Hoiberg’s name popping up on UCLA and Ohio State’s radar, to issues with Butler over the last two years. He’s got two years left on his contract before he’ll opt-out. The team has one more year of Dwyane Wade, and who knows what shenanigans Rondo pulls in the next year.
If I’m Chicago, I pull the trigger and get a star point guard and start over. Take a season and see what Paul Zipser, Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic are capable of, and star anew. Also, it’ll probably be a few years before LeBron’s gone anyway, so what’s the harm?