NBA Trade Rumors: Does Celtics, 76ers trade make Jimmy Butler trade more likely?

According to recent NBA trade rumors, the Boston Celtics are trading the first overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft to the Philadelphia 76ers. With even more draft capital, will the Celtics now increase their offer for Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls?

With the 2017 NBA Draft less than a week away, NBA trade rumors are out in full force. On Friday, we started to hear whispers of the Philadelphia 76ers trying to come up for the Boston Celtics’ first overall pick. The prize in the upcoming draft is Washington point guard Markelle Fultz, who would be a great fit alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in Philly.

Well, according to David Aldridge, the two sides have come to an agreement and the trade will become official on Monday.

We still do not know exactly what the trade is, but it appears that the Celtics moved down two spots in the upcoming draft and picked up the 2018 Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round pick and a 2019 first-round pick that came from the Sacremento Kings. The Celtics clearly did not feel that Fultz was far-and-away the best player in this class and decided to trade down a couple of spots and pick up future draft capital.

However, for a team that was in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, this seems like an odd move. The Celtics appear ready to compete right now. Sure, the extra draft capital is nice, but wouldn’t it make sense for them to use some of it to flip for a piece who takes them over the top right now?

That’s right, Chicago Bulls star forward Jimmy Butler still makes plenty of sense here. Even before this trade with the 76ers, the Celtics already had an embarrassment of draft capital riches. However, they were never able to put together the right package to get a star like Butler into the mix.

That being said, now they have seemingly unlimited amounts of draft capital. Even swinging for the fences on a big trade for a guy like Butler would not hurt the long-term health of their franchise.

The Bulls are a team that desperately needs a rebuild and the Celtics should be in win-now mode. This is a trade that would make sense for both sides:

Butler would instantly make the Celtics legitimate contenders to LeBron James in the East. Butler, Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford and their extreme depth behind them would undoubtedly put up a big fight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. On top of that, the Celtics still have the 2018 Brooklyn Nets pick and the 2019 Kings pick. They would be making a drastic move towards competing in the short term while not mortgaging their future.

Giving up Butler would be tough for the Bulls, but this is the kind of deal that could make it worth it. With the third overall selection, they would have a chance to land a legitimate franchise-altering player. UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball would be a perfect fit, but Kansas forward Josh Jackson and Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox would make a ton of sense as well.

On top of that, the 2018 Lakers’ pick could turn out to be extremely valuable and Terry Rozier is a talented young player with a ton of long-term upside at the point guard position.

Next: Chicago Bulls' top realistic 2017 NBA Draft targets

Simply put, the Bulls are not going anywhere anytime soon. Butler is a great player, but he cannot do it on his own. I strongly believe that getting top-notch value for him now is the best move to make and Boston is such an obvious trade partner for the team.

All of this is completely hypothetical, but it certainly would make sense for both sides.