All-Star guard Kyrie Irving a Bull? Maybe five years ago, but not now

There was a time that Kyrie Irving wanted to be a Bull.

One small caveat: It was over five years ago, and it was only to play alongside Jimmy Butler.

Back in the summer of 2017, a month before Irving told his own Cavaliers front office he was looking to get out of Cleveland, the Sun-Times reported about the attempted teaming up Butler and Irving were trying to pull off.

The two became close friends in the Team USA experience, and wanted that to continue on the NBA level.

Enough so that Butler – still with the Bulls at the time – told then-general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball John Paxson that Irving wanted to make the move. Butler even offered up a back-up option in bringing in Kyle Lowry if the Irving trade couldn’t be pulled off.

Weeks later, it didn’t matter.

Paxson and Forman opted to blow-up the entire Bulls roster for a rebuild, sending Butler to Minnesota. Irving eventually informed the Cavs of his destination places, and it was no surprise that Chicago was no longer listed, but the Timberwolves were.

He instead ended up in Boston.

Why was any of this relevant to the new Bulls regime of executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley as of right now?

Well, with the trade deadline looming on Thursday, there was once again an Irving spark near the Advocate Center.

A report came out that other executives from around the league felt like the Bulls were one of the teams interested in Irving after the Brooklyn All-Star demanded to be traded by the deadline. That spark was quickly extinguished by Sunday afternoon, however,

ESPN reported that Irving and Markieff Morris were sent to Dallas for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie and multiple picks, ending the latest drama to come from the Irving camp.

So were the Bulls even in on Irving talks?

It would have made sense since the organization did have talent capital to make the move, were underachieving, and are led by Karnisovas – who has shown an ability to play the role of riverboat gambler in his first few years in charge.

The Sun-Times also reported last week that the Bulls had no plans to be sellers, and as a matter of fact, if they don’t simply stay pat, they could be looking to add for a playoff push, especially at the point guard position.

With Lonzo Ball (left knee) expected to be shut down for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign in the next few weeks, there has been inconsistent play at the point guard spot, especially in the fourth quarter of games.

Irving would have made sense from a basketball standpoint because he can play on or off the ball.

However, Irving was never on the radar, according to a team source. Neither is Russell Westbrook, another rumored point guard that the Bulls have been linked to since November.

This entire 2022 offseason was based on “continuity’’ from Karnisovas, and that remains unchanged.

But as Bulls coach Billy Donovan pointed out on Saturday, trade deadline week is always fluid, as are the team’s plans.

Front offices across the Association will start getting more aggressive now that Irving has been moved, and that means the Bulls could get more clarity in a decision to stay the course or straying off of it if the right trade comes along.

Donovan, though, said things haven’t reached the serious stage as of yet.

“There’s nothing that [Karnisovas has] really talked to me where he’s said, ‘Hey listen, we’re close on this or close on that,’ ‘’ Donovan said.