They began preparing for that inevitability one year ago this week when they reset the clock on the NBA's repeater tax — which penalizes teams that pay the luxury tax three of four seasons — by trading Luol Deng to the Cavaliers. They fully expect to sign Butler to a max deal next July before another team even gets involved to tempt him with an offer sheet, which the CBA says they can after the moratorium ends. They accept that the size of Butler's contract will put the Bulls in position to pay the luxury tax, something Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf says he will do for a championship contender his team is.