The Jimmy Butler trade demand saga has now entered month two, and the sense of urgency for all sides involved has only increased now that the regular season has begun. The Wolves have stumbled out of the gate to a 2-4 start with Butler suiting up for five of those contests. His production has been adequate for a player of his talents, but Minnesota’s top star in Karl-Anthony Towns has looked like a shell of himself through six games, averaging career lows in PPG (16.3) and RPG (8.8).
With Towns and Butler seemingly still at odds and with the Wolves’ season in the balance, the pressure would seem to be rising on Tom Thibodeau to make a move involving the All-Star. A slow start isn’t something that will be easy to overcome in the Western Conference, and each day that passes seemingly reduces Butler’s trade value as the season progresses.
The good news for the Wolves? Butler’s potential suitors may be in worse shape than they were a couple weeks ago, opening the door to a sweetened offer potentially from the Wolves in the coming weeks.
Let’s start with the most motivated suitor out West: Houston. While the Rockets finished just one game short of the NBA Finals last year, they experienced significant overhaul in the offseason, losing key wings in Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute. They tried to save cash by replacing that talent with low-cost options like Carmelo Anthony, James Ennis and Michael Carter-Williams, and the results so far have not been pretty. Injuries and suspensions have not helped, but Rockets’ defense has looked horrific in the midst of their 1-4 start. Anthony and Gerald Green are not going to get the job done over the course of big minutes when they don’t have elite defenders to cover up their mistakes. P.J. Tucker can only do so much as a one-man band.
The question now for GM Daryl Morey is how much of the future they're willing to sacrifice for a chance of maximizing their title shot in the next year or two. James Harden is in his prime, but Chris Paul and Tucker are on the wrong side of 30, which will make getting through the gauntlet even tougher every season. Given the fact they have no salary cap room for the foreseeable future, Butler represents their last chance to add an All-Star at a likely discounted price.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reported late last week the Rockets had potentially been offering up to four first-round picks for Butler in a deal that would be reminiscent of the KG/Pierce price tag from 2013. The assumption here? For that kind of offer to be on the table, there would need to be some serious protections on a couple of those picks, as they span well into the next decade. (It would have to be every other season, per the Ted Stepien rule.) Bad money in the form of Brandon Knight’s contract would also need to be attached for the money to work and to keep the Rockets’ core strong enough to contend right now.
It’s hard to envision Thibodeau taking on that kind of a deal unless Wolves owner Glen Taylor overrules him, given his intention to compete in the West this year. To a degree, Thibodeau is probably coaching for his job right now, and he wouldn’t be around long enough in all likelihood to use all those draft picks anyway, a situation that shows the perils of having your head coach double as a team’s general manager. The guess here is if the season continues to go south in Minnesota, Taylor steps in and forces Thibodeau to make that kind of a deal. Otherwise, the only other time lying in the weeds as a serious suitor still appears to be the Heat.
Miami has started the year with a ho-hum 3-2 record, and like the Rockets, have no way of adding Butler in free agency next summer. Unlike Houston, they do have a couple of win-now pieces they would probably be willing to include in a new deal such as Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson or Justise Winslow. The Wolves aren’t going to get all three of those pieces, but if they are willing to absorb a bad deal (James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Tyler Johnson), they can likely get two of those pieces and stay in the mix for a West playoff spot this year thanks to a core of Towns, Wiggins and Teague. That’s never going to be a championship contender, but it just might be enough to make Thibodeau think he has a chance to get a couple rounds deep into the postseason.
There is an incentive on all to make a move in the coming months, so the question here is what direction the Wolves will end up going in. In my mind, Miami still has the inside track due to the movable talent it has on that roster.
Ty Lue fired after six games
A bit of shocking news on Sunday morning, as Cavs head coach Ty Lue was shown the door after just six games as head coach this year. The move stems from an internal disagreement it appears between management and Lue about playing time. They wanted veterans like Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith out of the rotation, and Lue did not follow those wishes after a game or two. Perhaps Koby Altman sees an inside track to a high lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft now after a slow start and wants to make sure he has a coach that’s willing to tank for the benefit of the franchise in place.
Still, given the circumstances, this seems to be a ridiculous situation for Lue coming off three Finals appearances. Luckily, he locked up $15 million in guaranteed money in his last deal and he’ll get to rest and enjoy that while waiting for his next gig. Honestly, the Cavs should have cut them loose before the season even started if this was the direction they wanted to go in.
Other NBA News and Notes
- The C’s catch a break in Denver for their trip next week, as starting guard Will Barton will be sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks with a hip injury. Nuggets have raced to the top of the West with a 4-1 start to the year, including a win over the Warriors.
- It looks like Rajon Rondo’s fight with Chris Paul last week cost him his starting job. The point guard came off the bench in his return to the floor over the weekend, with Luke Walton opting for Lonzo Ball to get the starting nod after a 0-3 start to the Lakers season with Rondo in the lineup. Will be interesting to see how the dynamics in that locker room change if Rondo’s playing time starts to suffer more.
- Bulls appear to be headed to the bottom of the lottery yet again after suffering a glut of injuries in the first few weeks to rotation players including Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine. Lauri Markkannen should return to the court sometime next month, but in the meantime, this group will be leaning heavily on Zach LaVine to stay out of the East basement.
- The deadline for the C’s to pick up Guerschon Yabusele’s third-year option is Oct. 31. The C’s will also pick up options for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum ahead of that deadline. It’s just a matter of time.