Jimmy Butler’s Future

I think he gets traded, I imagine it’ll be a me or them situation (more likely Wiggins than Towns – I’d trade Wiggins but I don’t think there is much of a market for him) In terms of the deal I look at the recent PG13 & Kawhi deals. An All-Star caliber player and a young guy or pick. 

I would expect the offer to resemble Indiana’s more as in Minnesota will be getting a guy who they view has All-Star potential (like Oladipo) more so than an established All-Star talent.

Nuggets: Harris & Lyles

Dallas: Barnes & Brunson/Kleber

Just a couple examples.

 I can also see him get traded to the Nets or 76ers

Either way he’s a goner 

Ingram + filler + first rounder for Butler.

Butler clearly wants togo to a team with veterans. You don’t get anymoreVeteran than Lebron. Plus nobody doubts Lebrons work ethic. He is a machine and I think thats what Butler doesn’t see in Wiggins/Towns.

Who Says No?

Wolves get:

• Dario Saric
• TJ McConnell 
• Robert Covington
• Future Miami pick

76ers get:

• Jimmy Butler
• Any filler to make salaries match

 Brooklyn:

Levert, Hollis-Jefferson & Carroll to match contracts.

 Lets put it this way: 

Ranking their main core in tradeability: from best to worst:

Towns,Butler and then Wiggins(due to a big deal and sort of underperforming if you ask certain people)

Personally I think Thibs is in a really hard spot:

Butler knows what Thibs wants and has proven he will do whatever it takes to win and plays both sides of the floor which can’t be said for their young stars. At least not yet that is..

The owner probably wants to build around Towns and Wiggins…

Which puts Thibs in that super hard spot…Do you stay loyal to your Guy(Butler) or do what ever it takes to keep your job(Towns Wiggins)

 A better queestion might be which happens first: Thibs getting fired/resigning or Butler being traded…

 I dont think they trade him, Thibs would rather get fired doing things his way than to change his coaching style and/or roster that he’s built. I think a lot of the issues are overblown, and the reality is the TWolves just had their best season in more than a decade, mostly because of Jimmy Butler’s impact both on the court and in the locker room.

They’re going to at least let this season play out with Jimmy, unless KAT explicitly makes it a him-or-me situation.

Here’s some other teams that could go after Butler that haven’t been named yet.

Charlotte, if they wanna guarantee a playoff spot in the weakened East while they still have Kemba. They could offer MKG, Lamb, Frank the Tank and possibly some young guys/picks for Butler. They would have a starting lineup of Walker, Batum, Butler, Williams and Zeller. If healthy, that’s a playoff team in the East.

Clippers, as they are a borderline playoff team and Harris didn’t re-up. They could offer Harris, SGA and possibly some young guys/picks for Butler. Clippers could start Teodosic, Bradley, Butler, Gallinari and Gortat. I dunno how good this team would do, but is it better than Harris walking out on them at the end of the year?

Memphis, as they are looking for a rebound year after both Conley and Gasol were injury plagued last year. The slower style could be best for Butler as well. Memphis could offer Temple, Green, Brooks and some other young guys/picks for Butler. I think this would make Memphis a playoff team again as they have a short window as it stands now. They’d have a starting lineup of Conley, Butler, Anderson, JJJ and Gasol. That’s a very solid defensive lineup right there. 

New Orleans, to finally get a decent wing player to play with Davis. They could offer Mirotic, Moore and some young players/picks. Mirotic is a bit expendable now since they signed Randle. They’d have a lineup of Holiday, Butler, Miller, Randle and Davis. Better than the team that made the playoffs last year.

Definitely not saying these are the favourties, just alternative options than the ones that have been talked about. Still think that teams like Brooklyn, Indiana, Philadelphia and Denver are all solid options that have been talked about.

 Everyone knows what the previous Butler trade deal was so they will be likely baseing any offer on that. With him being a UFA next summer the T-Wolves won’t get the value a player of Butler’s ability would normally fetch. You have to also factor in the value of his next contract if any team he was traded to kept him. He is likely to be near or over $30 million a year so teams will need cap flexability as well.

The top powerhouse teams have full rosters, a lot of this year’s lottery teams are still in rebuild and would not want to give picks away. Smaller market teams would worry about him resigning too.

Teams mentioned above – Brooklyn will likely want to keep picks and may look to make a run at him next summer, Lakers likewise and might want to keep Kawhi option open. The Pacers is an interesting one and Butler looks like a MacMillan/Pritchard type guy.

Dallas have potentially traded away next year’s first rounder so couldn’t send a first rounder until 2021. Miami have a pick to go via Phoenix to Philly so cannot send a first rounder for a few years.

Philly is an interesting one – Thibs could like Covington and Philly have picks available.

One team that might make a move are the Knicks – they are a big market and playing at MSG might appeal to Butler’s ego. Porz is out for a while but a chance to libk up with him and be a top star in NY could give the Knicks a good chance of retaining Butler.

 Simple question but why would the Wolves trade Butler? If he was unhappy he would have no problem saying it out loud, this guy gave his own phone number out on TV. I highly highly doubt Thibs would trade him. 

 He can play the 2 or 3 with Simmons, Embiid and Fultz filling out the rest of the starting line up

Fultz-Butler-Simmons-Saric-Embiid * As the Starters

McConnell-Reddick-Zaire Smith(when healthy)Chandler and Muscala * Filling out the Bench

Korkmaz, Bolden and Amir Johnson * Playing spot minutes