Jimmy Butler Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kyler’s Latest: Love, Monroe, Gasol, Leonard

March 3rd, 2015 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The trade deadline is in the past and the focus is shifting to the draft and this year’s class of free agents. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders takes a broad look at free agency for the summer ahead, passing along a number of noteworthy tidbits from his conversations around the league. His entire NBA AM piece is worth a read as he examines the outlook for several teams, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

The Celtics are planning to target marquee free agents this summer, with Kevin Love atop their list, followed by Greg Monroe, Kyler writes. Marc Gasol and restricted free agents Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are others in Boston’s sights, sources tell Kyler. It appears the Celtics will look to re-sign Brandon Bass to a salary lower than the $6.9MM he’s making this season, Kyler suggests, also indicating a likelihood that the Celtics renounce Jonas Jerebko‘s rights. That wouldn’t preclude a new deal with Jerebko, something that Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported earlier that the Celtics would like, though it does indicate that the C’s aim to open cap space. That’s a path of questionable merit, as I examined.
There’s a “sense” that the Sixers will make a play for Monroe, too, as well as Butler, Tobias Harris and Reggie Jackson, according to Kyler.
Monroe, Love and Rajon Rondo are at least willing to meet with the Lakers this summer, Kyler hears, though Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge are long shots for the team, the Basketball Insiders scribe cautions. Still, chatter is connecting the Lakers to just about every would-be free agent, including Jackson and Brandon Knight.
It’s unlikely that Rondo gets a full maximum-salary deal in free agency this summer, league sources tell Kyler, who surmises that teams would float short-term max offers instead. A full max from the Mavs would entail a five-year deal with 7.5% raises, while other teams can offer four years and 4.5% raises.
Sources also tell Kyler that they believe Monta Ellis will opt out this summer, which is no surprise given his level of play and the $8.72MM value of his player option.
Kyler also gets the sense that Paul Millsap is content with the Hawks and would like to stay for the long term, though it appears Atlanta is eyeing an upgrade at DeMarre Carroll‘s small forward position.
The Spurs will make Gasol their top free agent priority this summer, Kyler writes, though the team will have trouble signing him if Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili return at salaries comparable to the ones they’re making. In any case, San Antonio was believed to be the team with the most interest in Monroe last summer, Kyler adds.

Jimmy Butler Out Up To Six Weeks

March 2nd, 2015 at 1:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jimmy Butler will miss up to six weeks because of a left elbow injury, the team announced. Chicago’s estimated three-to-six-week timetable is lengthier on the back end than the three to four weeks that Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports originally reported earlier today. The regular season ends six weeks from Wednesday. There’s a chance he’s back before three weeks, a source cautions to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who nonetheless indicates his absence will not be much briefer (Twitter link). The team refers to the malady as an ulnar ligament sprain and small bone impaction injury.

Chicago is carrying 14 players, one fewer than the 15-man limit, but the team abandoned plans to fill that open roster spot once GM Gar Forman announced Friday that the Bulls expected Derrick Rose to miss only four to six weeks with his latest knee injury. The Bulls reportedly had initial conversations with point guards Nate Robinson, Mike James and Jannero Pargo last week while they were thinking about adding to the team to compensate for Rose’s absence.

Taj Gibson is also out until at least mid-March. The Bulls would need another player to go down for an extended period of time before they would qualify for a 16th roster spot via hardship, but given their reluctance to use the 15th spot, it appears unlikely they’d apply for that provision unless under extreme duress. Coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters today in the wake of the news on Butler that the team already has enough help on its roster, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com notes (Twitter link). Still, the Bulls, who are limited to giving free agents only the minimum salary, have no pressing tax concerns as they did at this time last year, so tacking additional salary onto the payroll wouldn’t carry extra costs.

The Bulls have reportedly been planning to make Butler, set for restricted free agency this summer, a maximum-salary offer come July. He’s the team’s leading scorer at 20.2 points per game on a league-high 38.9 minutes per contest.

And-Ones: Butler, Bulls, Dragic, Muscala

March 1st, 2015 at 10:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Jimmy Butler is headed for an MRI exam on Monday after leaving the Bulls‘ game on Sunday in the third quarter with a hyperextended left elbow, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes. From that point, the Bulls should find out how much time Butler will miss, if any. Here’s more from around the Association..

Johnson also notes that ESPN analyst and former head coach Jeff Van Gundy continued his spat with Bulls management during Sunday’s telecast of Bulls-Clippers. Van Gundy went out of his way to mention executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson‘s trade of LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas.
For the Heat, the question that should be asked of Goran Dragic is not whether he is a good player, but whether he is the kind of player that can put them ahead of the Eastern Conference’s elite like the Cavs, Bulls, and Hawks in the long-term, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders writes. In a league where there are plenty of capable point guards, one could make the case that the only ones with max salaries should be the ones that are either the final piece to a championship or an MVP-caliber performer. In Hamilton’s estimation, Dragic is neither.
The Hawks announced that they have assigned forward/center Mike Muscala to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League. In five games with Fort Wayne this season, Muscala has averaged 14.4 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.2 BPG. He has appeared in 20 games for the Hawks this season with averages of 3.6 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 8.4 minutes per contest. On Saturday night, he tallied four blocks against the Heat.

Knicks To Pursue Jackson, Butler, Matthews

February 10th, 2015 at 11:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks plan to target Reggie Jackson, Jimmy Butler and Wesley Matthews, among others, this summer, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. Scotto also hears the team will go after Greg Monroe, echoing an earlier report. A pursuit of Matthews would be contingent on the team missing out on Butler, Scotto adds, but Butler is a long shot at best. The Bulls are poised to make a max offer to the soon-to-be restricted free agent and executive VP of basketball ops John Paxson has already said he’ll match any offer sheet he signs. Scotto also names the Knicks as a potential free agent suitor for Draymond Green, though Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob has hinted that he intends to retain Green, who’s also due for restricted free agency, and all signs point to the Warriors matching any offer for the third-year forward.

There are conflicting reports about the likelihood that the Thunder will trade Jackson before the deadline, but the Knicks came close enough to trading for Jackson last month that he thought he was on his way to New York, and the Knicks are likely to make another go at trading for him. Jackson, too, is in line for restricted free agency, but he’s apparently open to signing his qualifying offer, which would give him a discounted salary in exchange for unrestricted free agency in 2016. In any case, the Knicks probably don’t have the assets to make a play for Jackson at the deadline, as I wrote when I examined Jackson’s trade candidacy, so a free agent pursuit makes more sense.

Matthews, the only unrestricted free agent aside from Monroe whom Scotto mentions, has expressed a desire to return to the Blazers based on their winning ways, which contrast sharply from the performance of the 10-42 Knicks this season. Marc Berman of the New York Post mentioned Matthews as an example of the sort of second-tier free agent whom Berman says many believe the Knicks will target this summer, couching the report amid a piece on the team’s plan to go after Tobias Harris, yet another restricted free agent.

The Knicks have a little more than $32.717MM committed for next season against a projected $66.5MM salary cap, leaving room for multiple so-called second-tier free agents. Scotto hears from several GMs who estimate Green will receive salaries anywhere from $10MM to $14MM. Some teams reportedly believed at the beginning of the season that Jackson would command between $13-14MM. It’s unclear just how much it would take to sign the others the Knicks are eyeing, aside from Butler, who appears in line for the max from the Bulls.

Central Notes: Butler, Bucks, Irving

January 23rd, 2015 at 1:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons are just a game out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and if they continue their surge, four Central Division teams will be in line to make the postseason. The Central was supposed to boast the class of the East in the Bulls and the Cavs, but as they languish in the middle of the playoff pack, here’s the latest from around the division:

The Bulls will match any offer sheet that Jimmy Butler would sign this summer, as executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson said in appearance Thursday on ESPN Chicago radio’s Waddle and Silvy program, notes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since the Bulls reportedly plan to make Butler a maximum-salary offer of their own that they hope will forestall the restricted free agent from negotiating with any other team. Paxson also confirmed that the Bulls are interested in Ray Allen and have been in contact with his agent, Jim Tanner, notes Bear Heiser of Fox Sports West (on Twitter).
Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear to Seattle mayor Ed Murray that the NBA envisions the Bucks staying put, dispelling Murray’s notion that the Bucks were a candidate to move if the team failed to make progress on a new arena in Milwaukee, as Murray tells Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The Bucks have until fall 2017 to have an arena in place, and if they don’t, the NBA has the option to take control of the team from its new owners. Seattle investor Chris Hansen is facing a November 2017 deadline to secure an NBA team for the city, lest a promise of civic funding expire.
Kyrie Irving finished fourth in fan voting for the two Eastern Conference starting backcourt spots in the All-Star Game, so he missed out on his best chance to trigger the Derrick Rose rule and up the salaries on the five-year extension that kicks in for him next season. That rule allows players who sign rookie scale extensions to make a starting salary worth approximately 30%, instead of just 25%, of the salary cap. Irving agreed to take only 27.5% if he were to qualify, which can now happen only in the unlikely event he wins MVP this season.

Bulls Plan Max Offer For Jimmy Butler

January 9th, 2015 at 11:52am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls fully expect to re-sign Jimmy Butler to a new maximum-salary deal in the summer, and they accept that the contract would put the club in position to pay the luxury tax, reports David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune. Bulls officials are planning a “proactive approach” to have Butler put pen to paper with them before he entertains offers from other clubs in restricted free agency, according to Haugh. Butler will be eligible for a starting salary worth about 25% of next season’s salary cap, unless he wins the MVP and triggers the Derrick Rose Rule, which would allow him about 30% of the cap. The latest league projection indicates that the 25% max will come in at $15.5MM, though that figure won’t be set in stone until July.

Some described the negotiations between Butler and the Bulls this past fall as contentious, according to Haugh, but Butler made it clear in his remarks after passing on an extension offer that reportedly would have entailed $11MM salaries that he’s intent on a long-term future in Chicago. The 25-year-old swingman has since embarked on a career year, but fellow Tribune scribe K.C. Johnson wrote in December that it would be surprising if the Bulls didn’t match any offer that Butler was to receive this summer, seemingly indicating the team’s willingness to pay the max one way or another.

Several executives from around the NBA told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News last month that they believed that Butler would command the max if he kept up his strong start to the season. Butler continues to showcase remarkable gains on the offensive end, averaging 21.7 points per game and 47.8% shooting after putting up 13.1 PPG and 39.7% shooting last season. Butler and agent Happy Walters asked for $14MM a year in extension talks but would have been willing to settle for between $12.5 and $13MM, according to Deveney, so it’s becoming clear that Chicago cost itself when the sides didn’t close a deal.

The former 30th overall pick went from unranked in the first edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, published shortly after the season began, to No. 5 on the latest list, which came out about a month ago. He’s maintained the strong defense that’s long been his hallmark and put up a 22.3 PER that’s the 14th-best mark in the league, according to Basketball-Reference.

Chicago already has nearly $60.2MM in commitments for seven players next season, not counting a player option of almost $2.855MM for Kirk Hinrich. The luxury tax line is projected to come in around $81MM, as Deveney also wrote, so while it seems conceivable that the Bulls could avoid becoming a taxpayer, it would be difficult. The Bulls have been eyeing a lucrative commitment to Butler since the Luol Deng trade a year ago, Haugh writes, noting that the swap helped the team avoid the tax last season and this season, which would have set up Chicago for repeat-offender tax penalties.

Eastern Notes: Butler, Pistons, Bass, Woodson

December 30th, 2014 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jimmy Butler is keeping up his stellar play, and as he seems poised to cash in during restricted free agency in the summer ahead, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau made it clear on Monday that the team remains committed to keeping him, as Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes.

“I think all of us that have been around him know who Jimmy is and we all value who he is,” Thibodeau said. “Those are business decisions that he [and] his agent have to make. Our organization feels very strongly about him. We want him here for a long time so that’ll all take care of itself in the end.”

While we wait to see how it works out for Butler, who went from unranked to the No. 5 position in the latest Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The offers the Kings made to the Pistons for Josh Smith weren’t as clear-cut as they’ve been reported, sources have told MLive’s David Mayo. Van Gundy blundered when he gave Smith too much responsibility in the team’s offense, opines Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, and that he didn’t alter that even as he was mulling the idea of waiving Smith throughout the month of December is even more perplexing, Mayo believes.
Brandon Bass let it be known that he has no desire to follow Rajon Rondo out of Boston, saying he isn’t “into looking and searching for a team to go to win a championship,” observes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Bass, on an expiring contract worth $6.9MM this season, nonetheless remains an intriguing trade chip for the Celtics if they wish to move him. His playing time has dipped significantly since the acquisition of Brandan Wright in the Rondo trade, notes Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
Mike Woodson called his time coaching the Knicks a “wonderful experience” as he spoke Monday to reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post. Woodson, now a Clippers assistant coach, said he was intent on taking this season off until Doc Rivers, a friend, prevailed on him to join his staff, as Berman also notes.

Bulls Notes: ‘Melo, Noah, Gasol, Butler

December 4th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls haven’t been on fire out of the gate, starting just 12-7, but they’re in an unusually advantageous position from a broader standpoint. They have a roster that seems strong enough to seriously contend for a title this season, and they have a pair of intriguing rookies in Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic. They also have a potential lottery pick coming their way from the Kings next summer. The Bulls almost landed a superstar in free agency this past summer, but at least one member of the team doesn’t regret that swing and miss, as we detail amid the latest from the Windy City:

Joakim Noah attempted to recruit Carmelo Anthony to Chicago earlier this year, but Noah believes the Bulls will be just fine without him, as he told reporters in the wake of a documentary showing just how close ‘Melo came to signing with the Bulls. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com has the details. “I know you believe [teams] need to have all these superstar players and you have it all figured out. We know what your opinion, what your thoughts are, but maybe the way you view the game and the way I view the game is different,” Noah said to the media. “I come in here every day with the guys and my teammates and we work hard and we know we have ways to go. But we feel like the potential is there and that’s all you can ask for as a player is just have that belief that you could go all the way. It’s a good feeling.”
Wednesday’s win after a heartbreaking double overtime loss the night before was indicative of the sort of toughness the Bulls often exhibit, a quality Pau Gasol found attractive this summer, notes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. “The resiliency of this team definitely attracted me,” Gasol said Wednesday. “A lot of these guys have fought through adversity in different situations, injuries and stuff and still been able to perform at a pretty high level, all things considered. I thought with my addition things could be even better.”
It would be surprising if the Bulls didn’t match any offer for Jimmy Butler this spring, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune amid his mailbag column.

Central Notes: Butler, Cavs, Antetokounmpo

December 3rd, 2014 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls are keeping an eye on the Kings this season, since Sacramento owes Chicago its first-round pick if it falls outside the top 10, and for now Chicago’s in line to receive a lottery pick, as our Reverse Standings show. Still, it might be difficult for the Bulls to squeeze even a rookie scale contract onto their ledger for next season, as we detail amid the latest from the Central Division:

Several executives from around the NBA believe Jimmy Butler will command the maximum salary in restricted free agency this summer if he keeps up his torrid start to the season, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Butler and agent Happy Walters were asking for $14MM salaries from the Bulls but would have been willing to settle somewhere between $12.5MM and $13MM during extension talks in October, sources tell Deveney. Instead, the team held firm at $11MM over four years, Deveney hears, echoing a report from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, but Chicago appears to have passed up a bargain. The Bulls will court luxury tax trouble if they bring Butler back at the max, with the latest projection putting the tax line at $81MM for next season, according to Deveney, and the Bulls on the hook for nearly $63MM already if Kirk Hinrich picks up his player option.
Cavs GM David Griffin originally planned to shuttle Joe Harris between Cleveland and its D-League affiliate this season, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Instead, he’s been part of the rotation, complicating matters for Dion Waiters and a suddenly resurgent Mike Miller, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com examines.
Giannis Antetokounmpo would have been a Mav if owner Mark Cuban had given in to Dallas GM Donnie Nelson‘s desire to draft him 13th overall in 2013, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. Antetokounmpo fell to the Bucks at No. 15, and the Mavs swung deals that landed them Shane Larkin, whom they eventually traded for Tyson Chandler.

Central Notes: Butler, Sanders, Pistons

November 28th, 2014 at 10:22am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks can move into first place in the Central Division tonight if they beat the Pistons and the Bulls lose on the road to the Celtics. It’s early, of course, but new coach Jason Kidd is making a case for Coach of the Year honors, though he’s receiving an assist from the arrival of Jabari Parker and the improved play of others. There’s more on Milwaukee amid the latest from the Central:

A source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bulls offered Jimmy Butler a four-year extension worth more than $40MM. That largely falls in line with the $11MM annual salaries that an earlier report from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune indicated the Bulls had put on the table.
Larry Sanders is only playing 22.2 minutes per game, but Kidd is pleased with his play not just on defense but on offense as well, and the center credits Kidd and the new Bucks owners for a culture change, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. The revival of Sanders, whose poor performance last season had him in trade rumors shortly after he signed a four-year, $44MM extension, has helped the surprising Bucks to a 9-7 record.
The Pistons have recalled Tony Mitchell from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). He had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his lone appearance with the Grand Rapids Drive this week after Detroit sent him down Wednesday.