DENVER – Jimmy Butler used his cell phone to crush the dreams of the Denver Nuggets in the summer.
On Tuesday, the two-time All-Star was hoping his jumper would hand deliver that same result.
It wasn’t meant to be, however, as the Bulls lost their 10th straight game at the Pepsi Center, falling 110-107. And while Butler’s 35 points, eight rebounds and five assists were impressive, the real dagger thrust into the Nuggets organization by Butler came months ago.
Both the Bulls and Denver were the two leading candidates in the Dwyane Wade July sweepstakes, after the long-time Miami standout was free-agent shopping.
Before the tip-off against the Nuggets, however, Wade not only admitted that Denver was a lot closer to landing him than many people believed, but also that it was a phone call from Butler that played a big role in why he was swayed and chose the Bulls (9-6).
“[The Nuggets] made it a lot tougher than people think, just from the standpoint of when you get into free agency, it’s all about how comfortable someone can make you feel,’’ Wade said. “It’s about the picture they paint for you about what are the possibilities of how the team can look with you inside of that team.’’
While Denver had a nice mix of youth and veteran leadership, at the end of the day the NBA is still a star league. That means star power.
Mr. Butler is on line one.
“If Jimmy doesn’t reach out to me then I’m not coming to Chicago because I don’t think Jimmy wants me here,’’ Wade said. “But Jimmy reaches out to me and says, ‘D, I want you to come.’ It’s a different … it’s that simple right there in changing my mindset.’’
Another reason why the Bulls front office has to be thrilled with ridding themselves of the old core of players, and handing the keys to a player who understands the league like Butler.
“The league is different today,’’ Wade said. “Obviously the presidents, GMs have their jobs to do to put their team together, but when it comes to free agency, that’s player relationships more than anything.
“It’s where you want to go, so you have to feel comfortable where you’re going and who you’re going with. And it starts in that process. Maybe you have a relationship with that guy, maybe you don’t, but it starts in that process when a guy reaches out to you. If a star player on a team doesn’t reach out to me then I don’t think he’s really excited about me coming there.’’
Wade was still greeted by cheers from the Denver crowd throughout the night, but that didn’t make the loss any easier to handle, especially after jumping out to a 31-19 lead.
The Nuggets (6-8) had an answer in the second, bursting out to a 25-3 run in that quarter, and making it a close game throughout the second half.
After Will Barton made two free throws with 9.5 seconds left, the Bulls had a chance to go for the tie or the win, and chose the latter. The inbound play was actually for Butler, but when he was cut off from sliding to the hoop they found an open Isaiah Canaan, who badly missed the potential game-winner from three.
“They stayed underneath [Butler],’’ coach Fred Hoiberg said of the play. “Isaiah was coming off on the crack-back and obviously was wide open, but the play was for Jimmy. I put this on me. I’ve got to get us a better look at the end of the game.’’
