Community Shootaround

Entering free agency this summer, speculation over where LeBron James and Paul George would sign dominated the news cycle. Then came the Kawhi Leonard saga after he demanded a trade out of San Antonio.

Heading into training camp, Jimmy Butler has taken center stage. His desire to be traded as quickly as possible approaching his walk year has become the big story. Butler told Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden that he wants out but Thibodeau isn’t about to give away his All-Star swingman, according to a Sports Illustrated report.

Offering young players and/or picks for Butler apparently won’t get a deal done, as Thibodeau wants to get deeper in the playoffs and not reverse course. Butler’s preferred team, according to reports, is the Clippers with the two New York teams next on his wish list.

None of those teams has a player of Butler’s caliber, except for the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis, whom New York has no intention of dealing. The top veteran the Clippers could dangle is Tobias Harris, who will also be a free agent next summer after turning down an extension offer.

If Butler is traded, he could go just about anywhere, as Minnesota plans to make him available to “any team,” according to the SI report. Up-and-coming teams like the Suns and Nuggets could be in the mix if they are willing to deal away some of their assets.

That leads us to our topic of the day: Where do you think Jimmy Butler will end up this season? 

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your feedback.

No Kawhi Leonard. No Tony Parker. No Manu Ginobili.

The changes to the Spurs’ roster this summer have been startling. Leonard’s unhappiness with the organization convinced San Antonio’s front office to trade him before he could become a free agent next summer. Parker surprisingly left the only NBA franchise he had played for since 2001 and signed with the Hornets. Then last week Ginobili, after much deliberation, announced his retirement.

Here’s something more jarring than all the personnel changes. Could the Spurs’ streak of 21 consecutive postseason appearances, the longest active playoff streak in any major North American sports league, be coming to an end?

For the first time in many years, San Antonio is no lock to make the postseason. The Spurs squeaked into the playoffs last year with a 47-35 record, tying them with the Timberwolves for seventh place. The Nuggets were just one game back and now the Lakers, with the addition of LeBron James, should be back in playoff contention.

San Antonio should have a good 1-2 punch in power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, the major piece it received in the Leonard trade with Toronto. The Spurs will also count on major improvement from young point guard Dejounte Murray. If rookie forward Lonnie Walker can make an immediate impact, that would also boost their postseason prospects as well.

Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay, both of whom have a lot of mileage on their legs, are the other projected starters. Gasol is 38 and needs to have his minutes monitored. Gay, 32, has appeared in just 87 games over the past two seasons.

There’s an obvious lack of youth, athleticism and 3-point shooting on the roster. Even Ginobili admits Gregg Popovich will have do one of the best coaching jobs of his career to coax a playoff appearance out of the current roster.

”I think it’s going to be a great challenge for him having a different kind of team, maybe less corporate knowledge,” Ginobili said. ”I think it’s going to be a fun challenge. I think he’s going to do good.”

That brings us to our question of the day: Will the Spurs extend their streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances or will it come to an end this season?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in this topic. We look forward to your feedback.

Welcome to the new season, Timberwolves fans.

In the space of a few minutes today, we learned that Jimmy Butler will hold a meeting Monday with coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden to discuss his future with the team, and that second-year center Justin Patton broke a bone in his right foot.

The bigger story is obviously the Butler news, which could affect the organization’s course for the next several years. Minnesota acquired Butler in a trade with the Bulls last summer to bring some star power and veteran leadership to a team whose best players were both young. Unfortunately, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins haven’t responded well to Butler’s tough love, and reports of a locker room rift have haunted the Wolves all summer.

If things don’t go well at the meeting, the team’s best option is to work out a trade, tweets Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report. However, he notes that Thibodeau may not be on board because of his loyalty to Butler and the danger of taking a step back when his job could be in jeopardy.

There hasn’t been a good atmosphere in Minnesota for more than a year — roughly the time that Butler came on board — adds ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski expects a lot of frank discussion Monday, with a source telling him, “Whatever needs to be communicated … will be.” (Twitter link).

Butler may be looking to the future and seeing control of the team slipping away from him, suggests Kurt Helin of NBC Sports (Twitter link). Towns is mulling over an extension that would pay him $158MM over five years. Once that happens, he will become the focus of the organization, not Butler.

The Wolves need to be careful about promising too much to Butler, warns ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The organization won’t have cap flexibility for several years once Towns’ extension takes effect, so the front office shouldn’t be talking about roster upgrades. Marks suggests approaching Butler like a free agent, then asking for a firm answer at the end of the meeting on whether he plans to stay or not (Twitter link).

Free agent Jamal Crawford, who spent last season in Minnesota, gave an insider’s view of the situation during an appearance Friday on Howard Beck’s Full 48 podcast. “For me, it just wasn’t a happy environment,” Crawford said. “It just wasn’t happy.”

How will the Wolves make things happier? Should they start offering Butler in trade talks or hope to re-sign him next summer? Will he and the other veterans brought in over the past year ever be able to co-exist with Towns and Wiggins? Should the team dismiss Thibodeau and his “Timber-Bulls” plan and get to work on building around its two young stars? Please leave your responses in the space below.

There’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding Dwyane Wade‘s status for the upcoming season. A report late last month indicated that Wade was ‘inclined to play’ another season and if he does, it will be with the franchise he’s played for most of his career.

Even if Wade doesn’t return, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will have a lot of tough decisions to make regarding his rotation during the upcoming season. Miami’s roster is filled with solid but unspectacular players and Spoelstra will have to sort out which are most deserving of steady minutes.

Thanks to team president Pat Riley basically standing pat with his roster this summer, there aren’t a lot of players with clearly defined roles.

Point guard Goran Dragic seems like the only sure thing in terms of the backcourt. Tyler Johnson is the listed backup but Dion Waiters could get some playing time there, as well as Wade if he re-signs.

The shooting guard spot has a major logjam whether or not Wade is added to the equation. Along with Waiters coming back from an ankle injury, the Heat have Johnson, Rodney McGruder,  Wayne Ellington and Josh Richardson vying for minutes there.

Richardson could start at small forward but Justise Winslow will also be in the mix, along with summer league star Derrick Jones. Richardson led the team last season in minutes played per game but that was partly due to the injuries sustained by Waiters and McGruder, who started 65 games two seasons ago. Ellington led the team’s rotation players last season with his 39.2% shooting from beyond the arc.

Winslow will also play the ‘four’ in smaller lineups but Spoelstra also has to figure out a way to juggle Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo and James Johnson at the center and power forward positions. Whiteside brooded about his reduced playing time last season and he won’t be happy with the status quo. But Adebayo’s role should expand in his second season while James Johnson, Olynyk and Winslow all played between 23-27 minutes on average last season.

That’s an awful lot for Spoeltra to sort out.

That leads us to our topic of the day: If you were the Miami Heat coach, what would your starting lineup look like? Which players should get the most minutes off the bench and which should be out of the rotation?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Training camps haven’t opened yet, but it’s never too early to start thinking about next summer, which will feature one of the most impressive free agent classes in recent history. LeBron James may be off the market, signing a four-year contract with the Lakers after a series of one-year deals with options, but there are plenty of big names to replace him as we outlined Friday in our 2019 Free Agent Power Rankings 1.0.

The Warriors’ Kevin Durant holds the top spot and will probably be there all year. He has solidified his position among the league’s elite players by helping Golden State capture back-to-back titles in his two seasons with the team. While he’s in a great situation with the Warriors, Durant may decide he wants another challenge, and speculation has already started about possible destinations. He has played on one-year contracts with options the past two seasons, but at age 31 he may be ready for a long-term deal similar to LeBron’s.

Karl-Anthony Towns is currently No. 2 on the list, but there’s a good chance he’ll sign an extension with the Timberwolves before the October 15 deadline. If he doesn’t, that’s a strong sign that the locker room chemistry in Minnesota is even worse than we’ve been led to believe. If Towns hits the open market, his combination of skills and youth will create a league-wide demand, even though he’ll be a restricted free agent.

The Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard checks in at No. 3 with another situation that could change during the season. Leonard’s desire to play in Los Angeles is one of the factors that pushed him out of San Antonio, and a trade to the Lakers or Clippers could happen if Toronto isn’t confident about re-signing him when we reach the February trade deadline.

The reported dissension in Minnesota may also affect Jimmy Butler, who is fourth on our list. Butler brings an old-school mentality to the game and has reportedly clashed with Towns and Andrew Wiggins over their more relaxed attitudes. The Wolves surrendered a lot to get Butler just 15 months ago, so they may look to move him before the deadline if they decide it’s not a good fit.

Klay Thompson rounds out the top five heading into a pivotal offseason for Golden State. With two of the top five free agents plus Draymond Green eligible for an extension, it’s about to get a lot more expensive to keep the core of the back-to-back champions together.

Tonight we want you to predict how many of the top five free agents will be changing teams next summer. Incumbent teams hold the advantage of being able to offer longer contracts and bigger annual raises, but the 2019 free agent market looks unsettled with two sets of teammates in the top five and Leonard possibly in a short-term arrangement in Toronto. Please give us your feedback in the space below.

The Lakers will have enough salary-cap space to sign another top-level free agent next summer and there’s sure to be plenty of speculation about who will join LeBron James in Los Angeles. Will it be Kevin Durant? Kawhi Leonard? Jimmy Butler? Klay Thompson? DeMarcus Cousins?

However, there’s still a full season to be played before those stars hit the market. Someone will have to emerge as the No. 2 scoring option from the current roster and establish himself as a top-level performer in his own right.

After securing a commitment from James, the Lakers front office brought in an eclectic mix of free agents on short-term deals. It’s more likely that James’ right-hand man will be one of the young holdovers.

Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma are the most obvious candidates. Ingram, the second overall pick of the 2016 draft, showed significant improvement in his second season. He averaged 16.1 PPG and shot 47% from the field and 39% from long range. He also display playmaking ability by averaging nearly four assists per contest.

Kuzma made an immediate impact despite lasting until the 27th pick of the 2017 draft. The stretch four also averaged 16.1 PPG last season while connecting on 45% of his attempts and 36.6% from deep.

It’s logical to assume they’ll play together when the Lakers go small; in more conventional looks, one or the other will be on the bench when James is on the court.

That could open up the possibility of a guard becoming the secondary option. If that’s the case, then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could wind up as the second-leading scorer. Caldwell-Pope averaged 13.4 PPG in his first season with the Lakers and re-signed on a one-year deal. He’s improved steadily as a 3-point threat, making a career-best 38.3% last season.

And while Lonzo Ball‘s first year in the league didn’t go as smoothly as planned, the Lakers thought enough of him to use the No. 2 overall pick last summer on him. His shot needs a lot of work but he’s always a threat to post a triple-double and he’ll play more off the ball with the additions of James and Rajon Rondo.

That leads us to our question of the day: Who will emerge as the Lakers’ No. 2 scoring option during the upcoming season?

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to what you have to say.