We are about a week into the preseason and Jimmy Butler is still on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The disgruntled shooting guard reportedly asked for a trade out of Minnesota late last month and there still is no resolution to the situation.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve heard about teams such as the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat all being interested in acquiring Butler. However, out of the many interested parties, it seems as if the Miami Heat may have the best chance to land the two-way shooting guard.
In his weekly newsletter, Marc Stein of the New York Times believes that the Heat are still likely to acquire Butler. Stein reported last week that Minnesota owner Glen Taylor knows that Butler wants to go to Miami.
The NBA scribe adds that the Heat want Butler immediately because they will not have enough cap space to sign him as a free agent next summer. This latest development comes on the heels of Butler reportedly growing frustrated with the Timberwolves’ front office lack of movement on a potential trade per Stefano Fusaro of ESPN.
Along those same lines, the Timberwolves are asking for a lot in return for Butler’s services. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Minnesota is looking for a combination of quality vets, top prospects, future assets, and cap relief.
It does not come as a surprise to see Minnesota taking their time in their quest for an acceptable trade package. But one has to wonder if they will get everything they want in return for Butler, especially from Miami.
If a deal for Butler were to go down between the Heat and Timberwolves, Minnesota would probably have to get a third team involved to try to get everything they want.
Who could that third team potentially be? None of other than the Sacramento Kings.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote last week that Sacramento is interested in facilitating a three-way trade involving Jimmy Butler. They reportedly have a ton of cap space to take an unwanted contract and have a bunch of expiring veteran player contracts that could be useful to the Timberwolves.
Furthermore, the Heat would still get Butler and could then ship off Justise Winslow to Minnesota, giving the Wolves a solid young player.
I highly doubt Minnesota will be able to acquire a top prospect in a deal as they reportedly wanted reigning Rookie of the Year award winner Ben Simmons from the Sixers. But to no avail, they were rightfully shut down on their request.
With the start of the NBA regular season looming, it would be best for the Timberwolves to move this process along as quickly as possible. The longer they wait, the more damage they will do to all parties involved.
