Jimmy Butler continues to be very much in demand, according to a post from Ian Begley on ESPN Now. Executives from other teams believe the Timberwolves are offering the seventh pick in tonight’s draft as part of a package to get the Bulls to re-open trade talks. Minnesota coach/executive Tom Thibodeau coached Butler in Chicago and is eager for a reunion. The Cavaliers made an unsuccessful offer for Butler, and sources relayed to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that Butler’s preference is to stay with the Bulls. The Timberwolves are also talking to the Pacers about Paul George, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets.
There are more trade rumors as the draft draws nearer:
- The Wolves are once again trying to find takers for Ricky Rubio, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Earlier reports identified the Mavericks and Knicks as teams that might have interest in the sixth-year point guard, who still has two seasons and more than $29MM left on his contract.
- The Cavaliers are in a “holding pattern” as they await progress on several proposed trades, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops (Twitter link). Cleveland’s problem is a shortage of tradable assets and what insiders are describing as a “flooded market” (Twitter link).
- Cleveland is finding that no one wants to take on the hefty contracts of Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith or Tristan Thompson, Amico adds (Twitter link). Shumpert has two years left on his deal at a combined $21.3MM. Smith re-signed last summer and is owed more than $44MM over the next three seasons. Thompson has three years remaining at more than $52.4MM.
Cavs have no assets besides Love to trade for anyone
I don’t think too many teams are interested in him anymore. Getting old and being on a super team has not helped him.
Getting old? He’s 28. With his style of play he should maintain a similar level of performance for the entirety of his contract.
He is 28 and averaged 19 and 11 last year. I seriously doubt there is lack of interest in him. It is more about the amount of teams that have what the Cavs need to trade to Indy or Chicago. That list is really small.
Also, his playoff experience is something he didn’t have prior. Not every team is going to have a ball dominant guy like LBJ. He is a huge addition to any team. An elite rebounding 4 who can stretch the floor an hit 3s? Cmon.
If the Cavs can off load those contracts by some miracle I would be ecstatic.
I’m surprised no one wants Shumpert at least, he only has two years left and he’s still a good defender (yes his offense is laughable)
Ill take him back on the Knicks.
He shot the 3 very well last year, especially when he was starting in Smith’s absence. For the season he was around 35% for the 3pt line.
Suck it up cavs! Spoiler alert no teams in the NBA will help you!
Suck is up Cavs !
Cavs need to add to defense thats it.
Hope bulls just trade Butler and get rid of this news for once already
Cavs cap issues are bad, those 3 contracts mentioned are terrible. When new GM talks will lebron slips be moving? I think it’s safe to say that the NBA by far has the most BAD contracts than any other sport
At least the lengths are capped. MLB has some guys that are dead weight and have 6+ years left at 10, 15, 20 million.
But no salary cap there. And then there’s Pablo Sandoval who was dead weight when his contract started.
I don’t think the C’s want butler anymore I think there more into Hayward and K.P witch they should be
So like I said…to move those guys, they’re going to have to do something drastic and It’ll have to be money for money type of deals. The types of deals I was mentioning earlier are what the Cavs are going to have to do to try to change. I’m not sure if those deals would be in play, or if they even help, but I don’t really know what they can really do with those deals clogging their cap right now
As for the Butler situation, the Bulls need guards, athletes/shooters that can be wing players, and they could use someone at the 4. If they can do that with their draft pick, and bring in a couple of free agents somehow, they could be right there in the middle/approaching top 5 in the east. But if it seems like it’s not plausible to fix their issues, it might make sense to move Butler to Boston, Denver, Phoenix, or Minnesota
Maybe Minnesota gets Butler, and the Bulls get Dunn, Lavine, Bjelica, #7 overall, 2019 1st round pick?
a Phoenix offer could be Bledsoe, the #4, Bender, and the 2018 Heat pick for Butler
Boston: Jae Crowder, #3 pick, rights to Abdel Nader, Tyler Zeller, Demetrius Jackson, Jordan Mickey, and the 2018 Celtics 1st round pick for Butler
Denver, probably something like: Hernangomez, Faried, 2 of Mudiay/Beasley/Barton, #13 pick, and 2019 1st round pick for Butler
All the type of stuff the Bulls should be contemplating, although you first would try to figure it out with Butler IMO, considering he is a top 10-15 player at the least, and he does only have 2 years left. Those offers would have been higher for sure last year, and we’re seeing the Paul George situation right now