On Thursday, the night of the 2017 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls pulled off one of the most surprising trades in recent memory when they dealt Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 overall pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for youngsters Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick, which turned out to be Lauri Markkanen from the University of Arizona.Butler spent the first six years of his career in Chicago, and emerged from a player who struggled to get on the court during his rookie year, in which he played in 42 games, averaging just 8.5 minutes and 2.6 points per game, to an All-NBA player who put up 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per contest last season.Therefore, it’s fair to assume that he put forth a great deal of work, heart and soul in the course of his development to superstardom for the historic franchise.Speaking with the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday, he opened up about the trade and it was very clear that he was upset about how things were handled."I guess being called the face of an organization isn't as good as I thought," Butler explained. "We all see where being the so-called face of the Chicago Bulls got me. So let me be just a player for the Timberwolves, man. That's all I want to do. I just want to be winning games. Do what I can for my respective organization and let them realize what I'm trying to do.”It was obvious that he felt a bit blindsided by the trade, as the following comments tell the story from his point of view:"Whatever they want to call me ... face ... I don't even want to get into that anymore. Whose team is it? All that means nothing. You know what I've learned? Face of the team, eventually you're going to see the back of his head as he's leaving town, so no thanks.’'John Paxson, the Bulls vice president of basketball operations, appeared on a local Chicago radio program on Friday to address Butler’s claims.

"We've always said to everybody there's a possibility we can trade you. ... We've always said that," Paxson said angrily. "I don't know how many times we have to say it publicly. We've said these type of things can happen all along ... when you move a player that you've invested so much time in, who you have watched grown.”

He continued, ”The implication in the question is that we are not honest, and it is not fair. All I've ever said publicly and privately is that the only player I've ever been around that couldn't be traded is Michael Jordan.”

Despite the drama, Butler made it a point to say that he wasn’t mad at the Bulls, even if his previous words suggested that the opposite was true.

"I mean I had so many people telling me what could possibly happen, but I just got to the point where I stopped paying attention to it," Butler told the Sun-Times."You can't get mad at anybody. I'm not mad, I'm not. I just don't like the way some things were handled, but it's OK.’'

Therefore, the rumored disconnect between Butler and the front office appears to have been verified with the comments from both sides after the trade was finalized. 

As a result of the deal, the Timberwolves instantly became a contender in the Western Conference, as Butler joins a core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio in Minnesota. The Bulls are headed in the opposite direction towards a complete rebuild of the entire roster.