- The Clippers‘ success in 2018/19 may hinge in large part on the health of Avery Bradley, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Bradley, who re-signed with the Clips over the summer, only has a small partial guarantee on the second year of his new contract, so he may return to the free agent market in 2019 if he’s slowed by injuries again.
It has now been 19 days since word of Jimmy Butler‘s trade request was leaked, and despite pressure from Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, Butler has “never wavered” on his desire to be moved, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. According to Krawczynski, Butler has dined with teammates and sent text messages of encouragement to players like Taj Gibson and Josh Okogie, but remains determined to leave Minnesota, preferably before the season begins.
If the Timberwolves are unable to complete a deal soon, Butler may “begrudgingly” report to the team in advance of the regular season, says Krawczynski. Despite not reporting to Minnesota so far, Butler isn’t expected to forfeit pay checks once the season begins, even if his return would create an awkward situation for him and his teammates.
Here’s more on the Butler saga:
- While trade talks between the Timberwolves and the Heat – and other teams – have hit a stand still at various times in recent weeks, those discussions are still ongoing, says Krawczynski. While some potential trade partners can perhaps afford to wait and see if they can sign Butler during 2019’s free agent period, clubs like the Heat and Rockets are under more pressure to pull off a trade, since they won’t have cap room next summer.
- The Heat now appear willing to include Josh Richardson in a potential deal for Butler, but the Clippers haven’t relented on Tobias Harris, according to Krawczynski. A report last week indicated that the Clips didn’t plan to trade Harris, and nothing has changed on that front — L.A. hasn’t put its veteran forward in any offers for Butler, per The Athletic. There are “no active talks” between the Timberwolves and Clippers, Krawczynski adds.
- The Timberwolves have “quietly pushed back” on the idea that they deserve the blame for a deal not being completed yet, writes Krawczynski. The Wolves insist they don’t feel obligated to accept a below-market offer for Butler just because the regular season is approaching.
- Within his Sunday report on the talks between the Heat and Timberwolves, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggested that the Heat’s apparent willingness to pay Butler a five-year deal at or near the maximum salary has contributed to the swingman’s enthusiasm for a trade to Miami.
- The Heat had been looking to involve a third team in the Butler talks to take on an unwanted contract – perhaps Dion Waiters‘ deal – but incentivizing that third team with draft picks became one of the road blocks to getting something done, league sources told Wojnarowski.
Lonzo Ball is expected to make his preseason debut Wednesday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, which will also mark his first time on the court with LeBron James as a teammate. The Lakers have been careful with Ball as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, even as they have raved about his progress. Ball and James were both held out of tonight’s contest against the Clippers, but coach Luke Walton plans to use them in the next game against the Warriors.
- It shouldn’t be hard for Boban Marjanovic to increase his playing time with the Clippers this season, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Marjanovic averaged 8.3 minutes in 20 games after coming to L.A. in a January trade, but coach Doc Rivers said all he has to do for more court time is “Just keep being big.”
- Warriors forward Kevon Looney drew lukewarm interest from a handful of teams in free agency, he revealed to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. The Rockets, Timberwolves, Clippers, Sixers and Hawks made contact but “nobody really offered,” Looney said. He was an unrestricted free agent after Golden State declined to pick up his option last fall but he settled for a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal.
- Lottery pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has earned significant playing time during training camp, according to Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. The University of Kentucky product is averaging 11 PPG and 4.5 APG in 24.0 MPG for the Clippers in two preseason outings.
While the Heat have long looked like the favorites in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes, Miami isn’t the only team talking to the Timberwolves. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Wolves and Clippers have had ongoing discussions about a Butler trade.
[RELATED: Wolves tell teams to improve offers for Butler]
The Timberwolves have asked for multiple players and picks in conversations with the Clippers, and would prefer to land Tobias Harris in any Butler deal, sources tell Haynes. Minnesota’s asking price has thus far been deemed too high for the Clippers, who don’t plan to trade Harris, Haynes adds.
Some details in Haynes’ report echo what we’ve heard in previous stories about the Timberwolves’ trade discussions — the Yahoo Sports scribe suggests that the Wolves’ front office “hasn’t fully engaged” the Clippers’ pitches. Other reports on Butler have conveyed similar sentiments on Minnesota’s apparent unwillingness to actively engage potential trade partners.
As Haynes writes, there’s a belief that Tom Thibodeau is still holding out hope that he can convince Butler to report to the team and rescind his trade request, despite Thibodeau’s public insistence that the Wolves are working on making a deal. Minnesota’s head coach and president of basketball operations told reporters today that trade talks are “ongoing,” as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press relays.
The Clippers were initially named as one of the teams on Butler’s short list of preferred destinations. The team will clear a significant amount of salary from its books at the end of the 2018/19 season, and could have room for a second maximum-salary free agent even it acquires Butler.
In other Butler news, Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link) hears from a league source that the Bucks haven’t had any “substantive” talks with Minnesota about Butler. No players were put on the table and there’s no ongoing dialogue between the two sides at the moment, Velazquez adds. Milwaukee had been named as a potential dark horse Butler suitor early in the process.
Devin Booker is making rapid progress in his recovery from surgery on his right hand last month, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The Suns‘ leading scorer was shooting with his right hand on Wednesday after having his splint removed. He had an operation September 10 to fix the fifth metacarpophalangeal joint on the hand.
However, Booker still hasn’t been cleared for contact and Phoenix isn’t sure if he’ll be ready in time for the season opener.
“We’re just following the steps,” said coach Igor Kokoskov. “That’s not my jurisdiction. I know nothing about when it comes to medical science. The medical staff, we have one of the best in the league. They’re going to tell us when the next steps are. We’re going to follow those steps being disciplined and wait for him to make the recovery and to play.”
There’s more this morning from the Pacific Division:
- Dragan Bender‘s poor play continued in Wednesday’s exhibition game against New Zealand, Rankin adds in a separate story. The Suns didn’t use Bender until the fourth quarter and he committed a couple of costly mistakes, fouling a player shooting a 3-pointer and mishandling a pass. Richaun Holmes, who was acquired from the Sixers in an offseason deal, got more minutes than Bender did.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a serious candidate for playing time in the Clippers‘ crowded backcourt, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. The rookie made a quick impact off the bench in the preseason opener with 10 points, four steals and four assists in 24 minutes of a win over Sydney. He was L.A.’s only young player to see significant time in the game. “I thought in the first half he was fantastic,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought in the second half he was still catching his breath from the first half. Good lesson for him because they don’t back off, teams keep coming.”
- The Lakers aren’t a lock for the playoffs despite adding LeBron James, cautions Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. He predicts L.A. will fail to reach the postseason, citing the number of good teams in the Western Conference, the Lakers’ shortcomings at center, defensive issues, injury concerns involving James and the possibility that some veterans will be unhappy with their playing time.
The Timberwolves continue to focus on the Heat in Jimmy Butler trade talks and have informed other interested teams over the past 24 hours that their offers aren’t good enough, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Minnesota plans to hold onto Butler until it gets a deal it likes.
Miami has been close to working out a trade for Butler over the past several days and pushed the Wolves’ front office for a decision on its latest offer today, sources tell Wojnarowski. Butler reportedly wants to join the Heat and would be willing to re-sign with the organization when he opts out of his current deal next summer. He has also expressed interest in the Clippers, Nets and Knicks, who should all have enough money next year to offer a maximum deal to another free agent.
Minnesota has focused on Bam Adebayo, Josh Richardson and a protected first-rounder for 2019 in trade talks, Wojnarowski adds. The Wolves would also like to shed the contract of Gorgui Dieng, who is owed more than $48MM over the next three seasons. A larger deal involving more players or additional teams may be necessary to make the trade work.
The Rockets remain aggressive in their pursuit of Butler, even though they are already well into luxury tax territory. Like Miami, Houston won’t have cap room next summer and has no hope of acquiring Butler without a trade.
Butler hasn’t joined the Wolves for training camp, but coach/executive Tom Thibodeau plans to appeal for him to return when the team returns from its West Coast trip tomorrow, according to Wojnarowski. Butler still has soreness in his wrist following offseason surgery and hasn’t made a decision about when he might rejoin the team if no deal gets done. Sources told ESPN he won’t miss regular season games if he is healthy enough to play.
Butler has been working out at Minnesota’s practice facility and has remained in contact with several of his teammates.
NBA.com has completed its annual survey of NBA general managers, with John Schuhmann of NBA.com asking each of the league’s 30 GMs to answer an array of questions about the league’s top teams, players, and coaches. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors are once again viewed by the NBA’s general managers as the overwhelming favorites to be the last team standing, with 26 of 30 GMs (87%) picking Golden State to win the NBA championship for the fourth time in five years.
While there are many responses in the GM survey worth checking out, we’ll focus on rounding up some of the more noteworthy ones related to rosters and player movement. Let’s dive in…
- LeBron James (30%) and Kevin Durant (27%) are viewed as the frontrunners for the 2018/19 MVP award, but two younger players led the voting for the player GMs would most want to build a franchise around starting today. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (30%) and Pelicans big man Anthony Davis (23%) led the way in that category. Interestingly, Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t receive a single vote this year after leading the way with 29% of the vote in 2017.
- The Lakers‘ signing of James helped them earn 70% of the vote for the team that made the best overall moves this offseason. The Raptors, buoyed by their acquisition of Kawhi Leonard, finished second at 20%.
- A ton of different signings and trade acquisitions received votes for the most underrated addition of the summer, with the Pacers‘ signing of Tyreke Evans barely leading the way with four votes. The Spurs‘ trade for DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls‘ signing of Jabari Parker, the Pelicans‘ addition of Julius Randle, and the Thunder‘s acquisition of Dennis Schroder received three votes apiece.
- DeMarcus Cousins‘ decision to join the Warriors (35%) was considered the most surprising move of the offseason, followed by the Spurs/Raptors blockbuster trade (29%) and Paul George remaining with the Thunder (19%).
- While Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is the strong frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, GMs expect Suns center Deandre Ayton and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. to be the best players five years from now. Meanwhile, the Clippers‘ selection of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 11 was viewed by the most GMs as the steal of the draft.
- The Sixers (47%) and Celtics (33%) dominated voting for the teams with the most promising young cores.
The Rockets are making a “strong effort” to acquire Jimmy Butler in a trade with the Timberwolves, sources tell Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link). Berman’s report comes after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated on Wednesday that Houston was pursuing Butler.
Wojnarowski, who suggested that the Rockets were “trying to be creative” as they explored trade possibilities for Butler, wrote that it would be tricky for the club to pull off a deal for the All-NBA wing without involving a third team. Berman, meanwhile, doesn’t offer much in the way of specifics.
It’s hard to imagine Houston being able to trade for Butler without giving up Eric Gordon, whose $13MM+ salary would make for a good salary-matching piece and whose ability to make an immediate impact might appeal to Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau. The Rockets also have full control over their future first-round picks, though the value of their 2019 selection would be limited, since it’s likely to fall in the late-20s.
Although the Rockets are apparently pushing to land Butler, they’re not the only team involved. Wojnarowski’s report on Thursday named the Clippers and Cavaliers as other clubs in the mix, with the Heat still considered the most aggressive suitors. The Wizards and Mavericks have also gauged the asking price on Butler, while the Nets have interest but haven’t engaged Minnesota recently, per Woj.
Here’s more on Butler:
- The Heat are open to the idea of taking on Gorgui Dieng‘s contract from the Timberwolves “under the right circumstances,” according to Wojnarowski.
- Wojnarowski indicates that potential trade partners are skeptical of Thibodeau’s willingness to move Butler, since he’s making counter-offers he knows would never be accepted. In an appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer provided an example, reporting that the Timberwolves asked for Ben Simmons when they made a counter-offer to the Sixers (hat tip to Dane Delgado of NBC Sports). We passed along a report earlier today suggesting that Philadelphia has since pulled out of the Butler sweepstakes.
- The Nuggets were mentioned several days ago as a potential dark horse for Butler, but T.J. McBride of Mile High Sports hears that Denver views Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Gary Harris as “untouchable” (hat tip to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports). A trade for an All-Star like Butler is probably a long shot without any of those players involved.
- Earlier today, we relayed an update on the Kings‘ potential involvement in the Butler talks — Sacramento is still interested in getting involved as a facilitator, but will be cautious about adding too much multiyear money to its cap.
Three teams had modest traded player exceptions expire this week, as the Grizzlies, Clippers, and Knicks declined to use their respective TPEs. The exceptions ranged in value from $1.58MM (Clippers) to $3.41MM (Grizzlies), with the Knicks’ $2.38MM TPE falling in the middle.
As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, traded player exceptions can be used to acquire one or more players whose salaries fits within the amount of the exception. They expire one year after being created if they haven’t been used.
The three trade exceptions that expired this week were created in deals consummated right before training camps opened in 2017. The Grizzlies’ TPE was created when they sent Troy Daniels to the Suns, while the Clippers created theirs by sending DeAndre Liggins to Atlanta. The Knicks’ TPE was generated as a result of the Carmelo Anthony trade with Oklahoma City.
All three clubs still have at least one traded player exception in hand, as our full list shows.