Jimmy Butler’s Trainer Calls Bulls GM Gar Forman A ‘Liar’ After Draft Night Trade

Jimmy Butler is no longer a Chicago Bull and his trainer Travelle Gaines is not happy about it. The Bulls star was shipped to Minnesota in a draft night move that netted Chicago young talent such as Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn.

Jimmy Butler said he was only interested in a trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but eventually decided against it after Cavs general manager David Griffin was let go earlier in the week. That left Butler without a preference and—presumably—in a position where he hoped he did not get traded.

When he was moved Thursday night, the reaction of his trainer seems to indicate that he was heading to Minneapolis as well, though he wasn’t exactly thrilled about how it happened. Gaines deleted the tweet hours later, but it was up for all the world to see for some time.

Relations weren’t always very friendly between Butler and the Bulls front office. Bleacher Report notes a Ryen Russello report that explained a significant rift occured while the two sides were negotiating a new contract for Butler in 2014. At one point, it was alleged that Butler was threatened with a benching if he didn’t accept a certain offer from the Bulls.

“What I was told is — and I don’t know who it was in the front office; I don’t have a name — but that he was told, “Well, if you don’t take this, we’re going to play Tony Snell your minutes. We’re going to play Tony Snell over you, and then good luck trying to get this kind of money when your number are down. And that, if it’s true — and it’s what I was told, and I believe it, but it’s the same thing of any gossipy industry that you’re in — then it doesn’t make sense that Jimmy Butler can’t stand the front office and loves Thibs, because Thibs apparently went, “No, I’m not playing Tony Snell over Jimmy Butler. Are you freaking kidding me?”

As far as Butler and his new team today, he seems fine with how things worked out.

https://twitter.com/vgoodwill/status/878047722007220225

Tom Thibodeau coached the Bulls for four seasons before joining the Timberwolves last year, so Butler is definitely in familiar company. But having your friends call your former GM worse than a drug dealer on the way out is certainly an interesting look. Butler, for his part, did issue a response to the Tweet.

“I don’t control his Twitter,” is a pretty valid point for Butler to make here. This is his friend’s response to the trade, not his. Think of it this way—if Butler is going to continue to train with Gaines, it’s Gaines that has to move to Minnesota just as much as Butler does. Friend or not, he’s caught up in the trade winds as much as he is, and that’s probably where his anger is coming from.