Jmmy Butler wakes up most every day around 5:30 a.m. and is typically in the gym for the first of two or three daily workouts 30 minutes later.
"He's not taking a lot of time off," his agent, Happy Walters, said in a rare interview.
The Bulls can formally announce Butler's five-year deal — which contains a player option for the final season — on Thursday, with Butler scheduled to speak. Butler, as he was in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, surely will be asked about his relationship with Derrick Rose, which has come into question after Rose played passively in the season-ending loss to the Cavaliers.
"There's no feud," Walters said. "This isn't like Kobe and Shaq where the guys don't like each other. Derrick has always been really cool with Jimmy, embraced him when he got there. When Derrick was hurt, Jimmy was there to help. Derrick came back and he helped Jimmy when he was hurt. Derrick's best friend was the point guard for Jimmy's junior-college team. There are a lot of connections."
Indeed, Randall Hampton, Rose's best friend since grammar school, played with Butler at Tyler (Texas) Junior College. But that was before Butler ascended from the last pick in the first round to an NBA All-Star and Most Improved Player, one of the league's most formidable two-way players.
This, according to Walters, merely involves an adjustment, not animosity.
"Jimmy knows how to use Derrick," Walters said. "I do think Derrick has to maybe figure out how to use Jimmy because they haven't played that much together and Jimmy made such a big jump offensively."
The Bulls went 28-17 last season when Rose and Butler played together. Both players averaged more than 20 points in the playoffs. New coach Fred Hoiberg has expressed his excitement about using their talents together.
Hoiberg should be excited. It doesn't sound like turning down the Bulls' four-year, $44 million extension offer last October and parlaying it into more money and security has changed Butler's approach.
"It's a great story because Jimmy worked hard and believed in himself," Walters said. "It worked out. But Jimmy really cares about winning."
The noise about Butler possibly opting for a shorter-term deal was real. The Bulls squashed that option by presenting Butler with a five-year max offer. With the NBA announcing a salary cap of a record $70 million, Butler's max deal starts at $16.4 million and comes to $95.3 million over five years.
The Bulls also project to be a tax team for the second time in franchise history, passing the league's $84.74 million threshold.
"Jimmy likes Chicago. He wanted to be there," Walters said. "And he has an option after four years and will still be 29 or 30 (when the Bulls deal ends) and can get back to the table one last time. He's happy about this deal."
Walters' firm also represents Nikola Mirotic, who is following his runner-up Rookie of the Year season by playing for the Spanish national team.
"He's working. He's developing," Walters said. "He has to improve because the league is now scouting him. I think in the new offense, he will be able to do that. He'll get a lot of open looks."