The Jimmy Butler saga in Minnesota has been difficult to track the past couple of days. No doubt that’s due to the irregular nature of the potential transaction, with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor circumventing his front office to seek a trade for Butler.
It was reported Saturday that several teams were interested in Butler, including some of the teams the star shooting guard reportedly prefers to land. That list included Brooklyn, Detroit, Houston, the LA Clippers, Miami and Philadelphia.
Now, you can add several more teams to the list who have at least placed phone calls to Minnesota now that they know Butler is available to be dealt.
According to multiple reports, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Washington Wizards are interested in seeing what they can do to add Butler to their roster.
Hearing that Jimmy Butler's interest in Knicks was overstated. His main goal is to win sooner rather than later.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 23, 2018
My understanding is that there are other teams beyond those original three that Butler wants to play and perhaps sign a long-term deal with. @wojespn's latest has some of those teams. I'd add Washington and Milwaukee as outliers.
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) September 23, 2018
ESPN Sources: Another team pursuing a Jimmy Butler trade with Minnesota: Cleveland. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was seen talking privately with Glen Taylor at NBA Board of Governors meeting on Friday. Both owners played a part in negotiating the Love-Wiggins deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 23, 2018
Blazers involved in Butler trade talks https://t.co/ppzKYfCz3o
— Dwight Jaynes (@dwightjaynes) September 23, 2018
Trading for Butler at this juncture is a tenuous balance for all parties. Butler can opt out of his current deal at the end of the season, and is expected to do as much. That means teams must be certain that Butler is going to re-sign with them, or be happy with his rental for whatever assets they decide to give up. It puts the Timberwolves in a tough situation as well, where they won’t to get fair exchange for Butler’s overall worth.
We don’t have many details on actual offers just yet. Things seem to be a bit hectic in Minneapolis and new information is still streaming in. Training camp for the Timberwolves starts on Tuesday, and reports say that they would like to have Butler out of town by then.
What teams are willing to give up is another factor, and that self-imposed timeframe could widen what Taylor sees as a good return for Butler.
For example, any deal for Butler with the Blazers would not include Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, or Jusuf Nurkic, according to NBC Sports Northwest’s Dwight Jaynes. That leaves some value for the Timberwolves, including Al-Farouq Aminu or perhaps Maurice Harkless. But if Portland is reportedly not willing to give up any of their most important core, you can expect other teams are heading to Taylor’s door with similar offers.
More teams being added to the potential list of Butler landing spots is not surprising. When a superstar becomes available, just about every general manager will at least place a courtesy call to the trading office. It doesn’t help that Taylor appears publicly to be in a position of little leverage, so no doubt rival general managers are licking their chops to try to snag Butler away for cheap.
Keep your eyes peeled. This one is going to happen quick.
