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Coach Tom Thibodeau confirmed one certainty: Jimmy Butler will be starting next season. "I don't see why not," Thibodeau said Friday. "The way he played this year, he earned that spot. He has great versatility. He became much more confident and competent — running pick-and-rolls, catch-and-shoot, putting it on the floor, posting up. His improvement offensively was tremendous. And his defense has gotten better and better, and will continue to improve." Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bulls, Tom Thibodeau, Jimmy Butler 

KC Johnson: Asked Thibodeau if he could step back and objectively appreciate Butler's durability. "He's just doing his job," Thibodeau said. Classic. Twitter @KCJHoop

Chicago Bulls, Tom Thibodeau, Jimmy Butler 

Jimmy Butler registered 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Joakim Noah added 13 points and 11 boards in the victory. "This is just one game. We have to play a lot better in our next one," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bulls, Tom Thibodeau, Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler 

Nick Friedell: Jimmy Butler on how sick veterans Luol Deng and Taj Gibson look "They look the same way they do every day. Lu is dark skinned, Taj is bald" Twitter @NickFriedell

Chicago Bulls, Luol Deng, Injuries, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler 

‘‘Nate — he’s the key to this team,’’ Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler said of Nate Robinson, his effusive and explosive teammate. ‘‘The offense that he brings, the way he can easily shift the momentum of the game. That’s big on any team, and Nate’s done that for us.’’ Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Bulls, Nate Robinson, Jimmy Butler 

Jimmy Butler helped limit Kobe Bryant to 16 points in another loss for the reeling Los Angeles Lakers, but the Chicago Bulls swingman said Tuesday he's no "Kobe Stopper," as his teammates called him after the game. "For one, that is not my nickname, and for two, I feel like everywhere he went I was there but also one of my teammates was there, two of my teammates were there," Butler said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN Chicago 1000. "So if I was beat, they were always there to help me. It never was really just me guarding him. It was always four other guys, and that's what makes this team so great, because we always have each other's back on the court and off the court." ESPN.com

Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Butler 

Nick Friedell: Bulls players yelling 'Kobe stopper' to Jimmy Butler in locker room. Twitter @NickFriedell

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

“It’s great to see him smiling, running around with the team, man,” second-year swingman Jimmy Butler said. “Because he’s a leader and leaders don’t only lead when they’re on the court. They want to be around the guys off the court.” NBA.com

Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Injuries, Jimmy Butler 

Butler’s family background has been well-documented since the Bulls drafted the guard/forward out of Marquette with the 30th overall pick in 2011. Told by his mother, ‘‘I don’t like the look of you — you gotta go,’’ Butler was on his own at age 13, borrowing a bed, a room, a pillow from different friends until befriending Jordan Leslie the summer before his senior year of high school. Leslie’s mother, Michelle Lambert, noticed the way Butler interacted with the rest of the family and knew the youngster needed a break. Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

They gave him one, making him a part of their family. They’re the only family he knows now — maybe the only one he really ever knew. ‘‘It means a lot to me to be here this week, definitely so,’’ Butler said Tuesday as the Bulls prepared to face the Houston Rockets. ‘‘That’s all part of my past. It is what it is. It’s been talked about, written about, but, yeah, when I come home, I feel like I’m the person I am today because of everything I went through. I don’t blame anybody — I’m past all that. I am who I am and I love the person that I am, but it definitely means a lot to come back here and play in Houston, which is only 25 minutes or so from Tomball, see my people.’’ Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

He hails from Tomball, Texas, a small town of about 11,000 people that's 34 miles north of Houston. Given that proximity, one might think Butler would have big- city tendencies. But it turns out Butler calls dinner "supper" and has an affinity for country music and cowboy boots. In fact, his boot collection is similar to most basketball players' sneaker stashes. "I feel like it's my own thing," Butler said. "It's not my way of being different; I just want my own style. Not too many people do it. I'm from Tomball, a small town—it's country. But that's where I'm from and I like wearing cowboy boots. My teammates get a kick out of it, but it's just like wearing Adidas, like wearing Jordans or wearing Nikes." Red Eye Chicago

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

His teammates certainly enjoy teasing him about it. "You know, I guess that's that Texas swag," said Joakim Noah, a New York native. "I mean, I've never met a black man that wore cowboy boots like that before." Taj Gibson, another native New Yorker, was even less diplomatic. "It's terrible, just terrible," Gibson said. "But that's his swag so I'm gonna roll with him. But it's not me at all." Red Eye Chicago

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

"When I was at Marquette, everyone kept calling me 'country' and saying I had cows in my backyard and stuff like that," said Butler, who's averaging 4.5 points in 14 minutes per game this season. "So I was like, OK, you wanna call me a cowboy? I'll show y'all a cowboy. "So I started wearing Wranglers, cowboy boots, hats, the belt buckles, all of that good stuff. And now that I'm here in Chicago, my teammates know that I love country music. They know that I own a guitar. So I figured why not play into the stereotype?" Red Eye Chicago

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

Nate Robinson, Butler's closest friend on the team, is open to wearing cowboy gear, but with conditions. "I told him I'll wear the cowboy stuff one day, but he's got to wear Jordans and stuff that I like. And I told him, if I wear the cowboy gear, I'm going hard. I need the boots, the big belt buckle, the button-up shirt tucked in, the hat, the straw. See, he doesn't do that; he does it half-ass. He's a half-ass cowboy. I'm going all the way with it." Red Eye Chicago

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

The Chicago Bulls announced today the team has exercised its third-year option for the 2013-14 season for guard/forward Jimmy Butler. By exercising Butler’s option, he will be under contract with the Bulls for the 2013-14 season. NBA.com

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

We've known that Jimmy Butler dug stuffed animals ever since he introduced us to his "pet," Royce. But this weekend, the second-year Chicago Bulls wing showed us that his love extends to the sneaker game: Butler tweeted a picture of these beauties on Saturday morning from El Paso, Texas, where he was biding his time before checking out the UTEP Miners' college-football-season-opening game against the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night. UTEP wide receiver Jordan Leslie is a close friend of Butler's, whose family took Butler in while he was heading into his senior year of high school in Houston; in the lead-up to the 2011 NBA draft, in which the Bulls selected Butler 30th overall out of Marquette, Butler reportedly "insisted on scheduling his predraft workouts around the UTEP spring football game." Yahoo! Sports

Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler 

KC Johnson: Jimmy Butler sat out Bulls' summer-league finale with a minor undisclosed injury, not by coach's decision. Twitter

Chicago Bulls, Summer League, Injuries, Jimmy Butler 

Justin Verrier: Vegas Summer League All-Stars con'td: Jeremy Lamb, Dominique Jones, Cory Joseph, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, Donatas Motiejunas, Jae Crowder Twitter

Summer League, Dominique Jones, Kemba Walker, Donatas Motiejunas, Jimmy Butler, Jeremy Lamb, Cory Joseph, Jae Crowder 

Brewer is the least likely to return, as rookie swingman Jimmy Butler is poised to fill his role, while Korver, despite his long-range shooting being such a needed asset on a team mostly lacking that quality, may have too high of a price tag for a team trying to avoid the league's luxury tax. CSN Chicago

Chicago Bulls, Free Agency, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, Jimmy Butler 

Do you see Jimmy Butler having an extended role this coming season? T.R., Montgomery, Texas. KC Johnson: That's the plan. I don't see the Bulls picking up Ronnie Brewer's team option, and I know that management remains high on Butler. What has to be remembered about Butler is, while his offense needs to improve, he always seemed unfazed by the moment he faced. That trait showed whether he guarded Carmelo Anthony unexpectedly or anybody else. And this was without summer league or an extended training camp. He'll have both this offseason. Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony, Summer League, Ronnie Brewer, Jimmy Butler