MEMPHIS -- Fred Hoiberg said the words that Jimmy Butler has longed to hear for over a year before the Chicago Bulls' game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

"You obviously have to have a very good relationship with your best player," the Bulls' first-year coach said.

Butler, 26 and a two-time All-Star, has developed into the Bulls' best player over the past year. The hope that Derrick Rose could turn back into a superstar has faded this season -- a realization that after years of injuries, Rose likely will never be the same game-changing talent he was earlier in his career.

But Hoiberg and Bulls players and coaches have been cautious in how they answer questions regarding who is the alpha dog on the team in respect to Rose. After all, Butler was always supposed to be the complementary piece to Rose, not the other way around.

Hoiberg has been complimentary about Butler's ability since the coach was hired and has praised his talent repeatedly throughout the season, but he hasn't spoken of Butler many times, if at all, in those clear terms as the team's "best player." And it was Butler who publicly ripped Hoiberg after a Dec. 19 loss to the New York Knicks, saying that Hoiberg had to coach his team "harder."

Four months later, Hoiberg believes, at least outwardly, that he is on the same page with his star.

"And I think he and I, when I first went out and met him this summer in San Diego, our relationship got off to a very good start," Hoiberg said. "And I think it has grown over the course of the year. I've learned a lot about him, and I think he's learned a lot about me. And the biggest thing is to make sure that he and I are on the same page. And I think we've done that."

Butler believes his relationship with Hoiberg has grown throughout the season.

"Our relationship's fine," Butler said after Tuesday's shootaround. "I think we both got the same agenda and that's to win games. We've learned a lot about each other this year, and there's a lot more to learn and get to know about one another moving forward."

With Hoiberg locked in for another four years with $20 million left on his deal, and the Bulls owing former coach Tom Thibodeau $4.5 million next year, the idea that Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf would hire a third coach is hard to fathom. That's why the decision surrounding Butler's future is so intriguing. If the Bulls want to shake things up, it won't be in changes made to the coaching staff, but rather to the roster. The dominant storyline of the summer will be whether Bulls executives Gar Forman and John Paxson believe Butler and Hoiberg can work together.

If the Bulls decide to keep Butler, it would also be contingent on the organization's belief that he can grow into the leader he wants to be. Hoiberg believes Butler has taken some steps in that direction this year.

"I think it's a new role for Jimmy this year, morphing into our go-to guy," Hoiberg said. "And it's something where it takes getting used to that role when you're put into it for the first time. I think he's responded very well to it. I think our guys have a ton of respect for him, just for the amount of time he puts into the game. His offseason workouts. Getting in there first in the gym. A lot of times coming back at night. And our guys see that. When your best player can set the tone like that, it rubs off on everybody else."

Butler followed a stellar showing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday with his worst performance of the season in a bad 108-92 loss to the Grizzlies, a depleted team that had lost six straight coming into the matchup. In 35 minutes, Butler was just 2-for-8 from the field and has scored five points as the Bulls wasted a chance to gain ground on the Detroit Pistons, who lost to the Miami Heat, for the eighth spot in the East.

Butler, who hasn't looked right physically for several weeks after re-injuring his left knee, played passive and never looked mentally engaged in the loss to Memphis.

Asked whether Grizzlies swingman Tony Allen took him out of his game, Butler said: "I took myself out of the game. I don't know why, man. It's disappointing. I'm disappointed in myself, because I know that I'm too good of a player for that."

Butler maintains that he is fine, physically, but something is off and has been for a while. The question is whether the issue is physical, mental or a bit of both.