It’s Jimmy Butler’s team now as Derrick Rose is traded to NY

It’s Jimmy Butler’s team now.

Gar Forman hesitated to call it that, but the general manager couldn’t hide from the obvious on Wednesday, after the Bulls announced that they had traded Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks in a five-player deal.

That meant Rose’s long-standing health concerns are no longer a Bulls problem. His camp’s inability to consistently have civil conversations with his hometown organization? His brother/manager, Reggie, spouting off? Rose’s questioned work ethic by Butler and others?

All of it, sent packing in a deal with the New York Knicks that now has Rose in the “Big Apple,’’ along with Justin Holiday and a 2017 second round pick.

In return New York will send big man Robin Lopez, as well as guards Jose Calderon and Jerian Grant to the Bulls, as the retooling of a roster that will fit Fred Hoiberg’s offense has started.

“Knowing Derrick as I do makes this trade a hard one,’’ Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Everyone knows him as the local kid who became MVP for his hometown team, but not everyone got to know him like I did. While he is a terrific basketball player, he is an even better person with a tremendous heart.

“I wish him the best of health for the remainder of his career, and I want to personally thank him for everything that he did on the court and in the community during his time with the Chicago Bulls.’’

Forman reiterated that sentiment.

“It’s always difficult when you’re going to trade somebody like Derrick Rose,’’ Forman said in a news conference at the Advocate Center. “Derrick obviously has meant quite a bit to this team, to this organization, and to this city, and we’re very thankful with everything Derrick brought to the table.

“Even though it’s very difficult to move someone like Derrick, we thought it was the right decision for the direction that we’re headed.’’

Not that the Rose trade should come as a shock, especially considering the league’s one-time youngest MVP was entering free agency, but the thought was the Bulls would be better suited to get the most out of him to start off the season, and then entertain trade ideas at the deadline.

Privately, the Bulls were getting the sense that Rose would want a max deal coming off a 2016-17 season in which he was scheduled to make $21.3 million, and rather than have to deal with the headache of negotiating or the public relations hit they might take, the decision was obviously made to move on now.

Forman called it a “basketball decision’’ rather than a financial decision, but reiterated that the cost uncertainty of free agency over the next few seasons because of a rising salary cap was a factor.

Lopez is signed through the 2018-19 season, while Grant was a player the Bulls were looking to draft last year. Calderon is signed through next season, so will come off the books quickly.

“Our cap position is going to be basically the same, and we continue to move forward,’’ Forman said. “We think it’s really a good first step.’’

One without Rose.

A graduate of Simeon High School, Rose’s game hit its ceiling during the 2010-11 season in which the 6-foot-3 point guard averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists per game. It was a year later in the playoffs, however, that Rose’s climb would come to an abrupt ending.

Tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia, Rose sat out the entire 2012-13 season, and when he did return lasted only 10 games because of a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Since those injuries, Rose’s game was never the same, with his healthiest season coming this year, as he averaged 16.4 points and played in 66 games.

The bigger picture was Rose didn’t fit in what Hoiberg wanted to do. First, Hoiberg’s offense doesn’t need two isolation players in it. With Butler surpassing Rose on the talent front, as well as being younger, one had to go.

Secondly, Hoiberg admittedly had to do a lot of extra hand holding with Rose, getting him to mentally understand what was being asked of him both offensively and defensively.

With Hoiberg and Butler both signing five-year deals last season, staying power wasn’t favoring the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year.

“The decision really was what I said,’’ Forman said, when asked if the clash of egos between Butler and Rose played a factor. “We felt that we needed to start changing the roster. We felt we needed to start getting younger and more athletic. It was more from a team building standpoint in trying to get this process started.’’

With Rose now out the door, it was further evidence of the break-up between free agent-to-be Joakim Noah and the Bulls also underway.

As the Sun-Times reported last month, Noah had already set his mind on going elsewhere because of a mistrust in the front office, specifically Forman. The Rose trade does very little to change that, especially with how tight Noah and Rose were.

“This is all our team,’’ Forman said. “Basketball is a team game. Obviously Jimmy being an All-Star is our best player, but I don’t know if you can go as far as saying it’s this guy’s team or this guy’s team.’’