UPDATE 11:33 am: Caron Butler has four meetings set, the Clippers just being one of them. Here is the report from ESPN Dallas.
Money matters, it always does, but years will matter to Butler as well. With all his red flags teams will want short deals but the ones that offer multi-year contracts will get his ear.
10: 22 am: For a guy who is over 30 and hasn’t played since last January due to major knee surgery, Caron Butler is a very popular guy.
Which speaks to the lack of depth in this free agent class — everyone sees the red flags up around Butler and are moving fast to talk to him and maybe sign him Dec. 9. Even though he can’t work out for coaches until Dec. 9. There is a lot of blind trust out there.
That starts with the Los Angeles Clippers, who will meet with Butler Monday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
But that will not be the only meeting this week. Butler is expected to meet with the Chicago Bulls reports CSNChicago.com and there is interest from interest from the San Antonio Spurs as well. And there are others.
Butler is a solid wing — if he can return to pre-injury form — so it is easy to understand why the Clippers and Bulls have interest. Butler is likely to at least get the mid-level exception money of $5 million annually, if not more. Which some will point to as a sign the owners did not really learn their lessons from the lockout.
But this is basic supply and demand at work. There is a demand for good wing players and not much supply in this free agency (there is not much supply of anything in this free agency). So, guys with question marks like Butler get more money because if they are right they are a good fit. And GM are willing to take that risk.
