The best case Jimmy Butler scenario for the Celtics

The latest twists and turns to the Jimmy Butler trade demand saga continued to trickle out over the past 24 hours. The latest intriguing development? The All-Star’s top preferred choice as a landing spot is the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

That preference may not ultimately matter given the fact that Tom Thibodeau has reportedly no interest in trading him for the time being. However, the prospect of Butler walking for nothing and the Wolves having no free cap space to replace him with should force Thibodeau to approach the situation with an eye on the future. The Wolves won’t be contending this year anyway, with or without Butler, so why risk letting your best player walk?

The Celtics will serve as bystanders for this whole situation. If Butler goes anywhere in the interim, they would prefer it to be out West, avoiding the possibility that some East playoff team could make a major upgrade as a top challenger to the Celtics.

However, the prospect of Butler landing in Los Angeles, whether it is this season or next season, would serve the Celtics beyond a competition standpoint in the East.

The Celtics are armed with the Clippers’ lottery-protected, first-round pick for both 2019 and '20. It’s a unique pick protection since instead of the 1-14 pick protection loosening over the years (similar to the Memphis) pick it remains consistent for just two years. After that? The selection turns into a meager second-round pick for 2022.

That type of pick protection is reflective of the initial deal the Celtics and Grizzlies made in 2016. The Celtics sent two early second-round picks (No. 31 and No. 37) to Memphis for the Clippers top-14 protected pick (which was acquired by the Grizzlies in a separate deal for Jeff Green earlier that season). The Celtics wanted a first round pick in the swap, but the parameters of the selection and the future outlook of the Clippers made it look like to all involved that it would be a late first-round pick, a fair exchange for two early second round selections.

A mere two years later in a loaded Western Conference, the Clippers’ playoff prospects are far from a sure thing for the next two years without Butler. There is a nice collection of middle-of-the-road talent in Los Angeles (Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Beverley, Marcin Gortat, etc.) but that might not be enough to get the Clippers to the No. 8 seed in the loaded West.

Throw Butler into that equation, whether it’s this season or next season and that changes things. Butler has enough talent to carry flawed teams to a playoff spot (see: Chicago Bulls a couple years ago) and he would have a better supporting cast to try to do the same in Los Angeles. While there’s no guarantee he would lift them past teams like Denver, San Antonio or New Orleans this year, the acquisition of a star to pair with him next summer would all but guarantee it. The Clippers have set themselves up nicely to have cap slots for two max free agents next summer.

A talented Clippers team that includes Butler likely means the Celtics gets to add to their cache of first round picks in either 2019 or 2020, an important tool for a team that will be battling a hefty luxury tax bill with limited means of outside improvement during those offseasons. A middle-of-the-road Clippers team with Butler this year could even give the C’s a dream scenario of a pick in the mid-teens.

Realistically, the Clippers have more win-now assets to make the trade now as well. Tobias Harris can’t be re-signed if the Clippers want two max free agents, so why not move him now for Butler? The Clippers would have to sweeten the deal, but they have enough young and veteran talent in the backcourt to do so to potentially appease Thibodeau. If the Clips do land him this year, Kyrie Irving and the Celtics also get to avoid the inevitable Butler/Irving teaming up in New York speculation for the foreseeable future.

The Celtics can only watch and wait at this point, but their odds of eventually adding another first-round pick to their war chest have only gone up with how the Clippers have positioned themselves for now and the future.