Get ready, Bulls fans. The next 36 hours or so leading up to the 2016 NBA Draft will be one long, stressful wait to see what Chicago’s front office does or doesn’t do. In a report late last night, ESPN’s Marc Stein confirmed that the Boston Celtics continue to call the Bulls with offers for All Star Jimmy Butler. Stein’s sources say that no such offer has passed muster in the eyes of general manager Gar Forman and vice president John Paxson.

Going Shopping

It has been well known since Boston landed the #3 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery that the team would try to shop that pick for a ready-made star player to add to their young core. They also have picks #16 and #23, five second round picks and some role players who could contribute to any team right away. Avery Bradley, Jonas Jerebko and Terry Rozier are some of the names that have been mentioned, but it’s Butler’s former Marquette teammate Jae Crowder that the Bulls want. When Chicago and Boston were negotiating at the trade deadline back in February, the Bulls front office put an end to the talks because Celtics general manager Danny Ainge wouldn’t let go of Crowder.

That appears to still be the current situation. The Bulls are looking more and more like a team that plans to keep Butler and try to build a better roster around him. Stein and his ESPN colleague Chad Ford released another report saying the Minnesota Timberwolves and their boss Tom Thibodeau would make their #5 overall pick available in a trade to take Butler away from Chicago. But the consensus came quickly.

The Bulls wouldn’t trade Butler to the Timberwolves for just the #5 pick and a role player or two. They would demand getting either of the two most recent Rookie of the Year winners, Andrew Wiggins or Karl-Anthony Towns. Seeing as Thibodeau is unlikely to part with such important pieces of his future core, a deal with Minnesota seems unlikely as well.

These Look Nice, But No Dice

According to last night’s report, the Celtics have also been in communication with the front offices of the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks in an attempt to get the young star they covet. However, Utah has informed Boston (and several other interested teams) that their star guard Gordon Hayward is not on the trading table. Ainge is interested in acquiring either Chicago product Jabari Parker or Khris Middleton from the Bucks, but no specific deals are confirmed to be close to finalized as of this morning.

Milwaukee agreed to terms yesterday on a contract extension with head coach Jason Kidd. He’ll try to get the Bucks back into gear after a disappointing 2015-16 campaign. Does he want to work with the same core as this season’s squad, or would he appreciate some fresh faces? Sounds like a question Fred Hoiberg knows all too well.

The Celtics will undoubtedly continue to make calls and offers trying to swap that #3 pick for a star player. And until you see that #3 “pick is in” for Boston tomorrow night, Bulls fans should still be on their toes.

Anything can happen between now and tomorrow night. Anything.