- The Heat are willing to continue trade talks for Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler even though their last attempt ended in an angry exchange between the organizations, Jackson adds in the same story. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported today that Minnesota’s asking price for Butler is still high (Twitter link).
1:24pm: There’s a belief within the Timberwolves that Butler could target specific games to sit out, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. However, he’s unlikely to miss high-profile matchups like Friday’s game against the Warriors, according to Wojnarowski, who adds that Butler is expected to play in Golden State.
According to both Wojnarowski and Krawczynski, Butler’s camp remains frustrated with the Wolves’ inaction on his trade request and wants owner Glen Taylor to speed up the process. There’s a “collective belief” among Butler’s suitors that Thibodeau isn’t looking to seriously negotiate a trade yet, sources tell Woj.
Addressing the Rockets’ offer specifically, Krawczynski notes that Minnesota isn’t interested in taking on Knight’s contract. The Rockets have made “no progress” on a Butler deal with the Wolves, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic.
12:34pm: The situation remains fluid, according to Krawczynski, who tweets that Butler could very well return to the Timberwolves’ lineup for Friday’s game. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that there’s an expectation Butler will fly to Golden State with the team for Friday’s game, adding that it was the Wolves that suggested the 29-year-old rest on Wednesday. Teams talking to Minnesota about Butler say the asking price remains high, per Woj.
11:57am: Jimmy Butler won’t play for the Timberwolves on Wednesday night against Utah, the team confirmed today. While the club cited “general soreness and precautionary rest” as the reasons for Butler’s absence, the four-time All-Star made the decision himself, informing head coach Tom Thibodeau of his plan this morning, according to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Charania and Krawczynski report (via Twitter) that Butler’s decision to sit tonight represents the “next step” in his continued efforts to push the Timberwolves to trade him. According to The Athletic’s duo, Butler’s absence could turn into an extended one.
If Butler is healthy enough to play and is opting to sit out against the Wolves’ wishes, the team would have grounds to dock his salary for each game he misses. It’s not clear if that’s where this is headed though — when Thibodeau initially announced the news on Butler, there was no indication that the club wasn’t on board with having him sit out Wednesday’s game.
This is just the latest development in a saga that has had its fair share of dramatic twists and turns since word of Butler’s trade request broke a week before training camps got underway. The All-NBA wing looks like a lock to be traded before February’s trade deadline, but he’s clearly hoping to force Minnesota to make a move well before then.
The Heat and Rockets have been the teams most frequently identified as suitors for Butler, though Marc Stein of The New York Times wrote on Tuesday about “steady rumbles” around the NBA that the Sixers will eventually make a push too. Miami appeared close to landing Butler at one point during the preseason with a package centered around Josh Richardson and a first-round pick, but couldn’t finalize a deal.
As for Houston, the Rockets reportedly offered Marquese Chriss, Brandon Knight, and four first-round picks for Butler. Since it has been two months since Chriss and Knight were acquired from Phoenix, those two players can now have their salaries aggregated together in a trade for salary-matching purposes, meaning that – as of today – such a deal would be allowed. However, the Wolves reportedly showed little interest in Houston’s offer, preferring a package that includes Eric Gordon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Timberwolves will pass on Justin Patton‘s third-year option for the 2019/20 season, putting the young center on track to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, according to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Patton, 21, has been plagued by injuries since entering the NBA as the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft. Acquired by the Timberwolves on draft night as part of their Jimmy Butler blockbuster with the Bulls, Patton broke his left foot in a workout before even getting a chance to play for Minnesota’s Summer League team.
After initially undergoing surgery on his left foot last July, Patton underwent a follow-up procedure in April, then broke a bone in his right foot in September and had surgery to repair that injury. As a result of his constant health problems, Patton has appeared in just one game for the Wolves, making his NBA debut on April 1. He played four minutes in that contest.
If Minnesota had exercised Patton’s 2019/20 option, it would have guaranteed his $3,117,240 cap hit for that season. By declining the option, the Wolves now won’t be permitted to offer a starting salary larger than that amount if they change course and want to retain the big man next July.
As our tracker shows, Patton is the fourth player confirmed to have his 2019/20 rookie scale option declined, joining Dragan Bender (Suns), Henry Ellenson (Pistons), and Malachi Richardson (Raptors). A handful of other players, including Marquese Chriss (Rockets) are also still at risk of having their options turned down.
The Timberwolves‘ roller coaster season took a new turn on Friday, with the team suffering a 30-point loss to the Bucks in front of their home crowd. Minnesota has been rocked by trade rumors centered around Jimmy Butler, who remains on the roster nearly six weeks after his trade request went public.
Despite the constant, sometimes nagging attention from media and fans, Wolves players have tried to keep their focus on handling business and business only.
“Me personally, I don’t care,” Gorgui Dieng said, according to Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “If they trade Jimmy, then they’re trading him. If they keep him here, then they keep him here. It’s not my decision, it’s not something that I have a voice [in]. Most important is just what’s important for the team, and what I can do to help this basketball team.”
The Wolves have opened the 2018/19 season with a 2-4 record, and discussions to trade Butler are ongoing. Butler scored just four points on 2-11 shooting in Friday’s game.
“No team is ever going to go through a perfect season unscathed,” Taj Gibson said. “Everybody has a story at the end of the year sometimes of triumph and sometimes falling down. We’re in a crazy situation, kind of difficult, but we have to push through it. That’s why we’re professionals.
“We have to go into every practice, into every game with a smile on your face and push yourself.”
Here are some other notes from the Northwest Division:
- Andrew Wiggins discussed his relationship with Jimmy Butler last week, stating that he and Butler “have always been cool,” according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link). Wiggins also claims the infamous practice where Butler stormed the court and took on the Wolves’ starters was overblown (Twitter link).
- The emergence of second-year player Monte Morris has greatly helped the Nuggets, who have jumped out to a 4-1 record this season, Mike Singer of The Denver Post contends. Morris is averaging 9.4 points in five games, providing depth in the backcourt with Isaiah Thomas still out to injury.
- Jazz guard Thabo Sefolosha will be available to play Sunday against the Mavericks, according to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News. Sefolosha served a five-game suspension this season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy in April, and played just 38 games with the team last year.
The Rockets‘ latest attempt to get Jimmy Butler from the Timberwolves by offering Brandon Knight, Marquese Chriss and four first-round picks is a non-starter, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN, who hears from sources that Minnesota won’t consider any deal that doesn’t include Eric Gordon.
Coach Tom Thibodeau is focused on returning to the playoffs and wants a trade that will benefit the team right away. Knight and Chriss are both injured and neither has been effective over the past two seasons in Phoenix. Thibodeau still has three years and $24MM left on his contract, but there have been rumors that his job may be in jeopardy if the Wolves commit to a full rebuilding project.
Plan A for Thibodeau is to hold onto Butler for as long as possible — possibly until February’s trade deadline — to help with the playoff push, Andrews adds. However, the team is off to a 2-4 start, including a 30-point loss last night to the Bucks, so that strategy isn’t off to a great start.
Butler, who started the process with a trade request last month, has received assurances from owner Glen Taylor that the team will continue to pursue a deal, according to Andrews, who hears from sources that another serious effort will be made about 10 to 15 games into the season.
Taylor has put GM Scott Layden in charge of working out a trade while Thibodeau coaches the team. The Heat and Sixers remain interested and Taylor has been hoping both teams will consider increasing their offers.
“I don’t consider anything drama,” Butler told reporters after a season-low four-point performance Friday. “I consider it business.”
The Jimmy Butler trade market appears to be coming back to life after briefly going dormant early in the regular season. After word broke on Thursday that the Rockets have made the Timberwolves an offer that features four first-round picks, multiple Friday reports have suggested that the Heat are once again back in the mix.
The Five Reasons Sports Network first reported (via Twitter) that the Heat were engaged in Butler conversations, with Stefano Fusaro of ESPN subsequently confirming (via Twitter) that Miami and Minnesota have re-opened those discussions.
The Heat were the team most frequently linked with Butler during the preseason, with reports suggesting that they nearly reached an agreement with the Wolves that would have sent Butler to Miami in exchange for Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters, and a first-round pick. However, Minnesota reportedly asked for more, causing the deal to fall apart.
In the days leading up to the regular season, discussions between the Heat and Timberwolves temporarily came to an end, with Pat Riley reportedly telling his players that the roster would remain unchanged to start the season. However, just 10 days into the 2018/19 campaign, it appears the Heat are once again exploring what it would take to acquire Butler, perhaps spurred into action by the reports on Houston’s latest offer.
The Timberwolves are said to be showing “no inclination” to accept the Rockets’ offer, so it’s possible that the Heat remain the best bet to ultimately land the All-NBA swingman. The emergence of Rodney McGruder this fall could give Miami another intriguing trade chip or could increase the club’s willingness to surrender Richardson.
The Timberwolves are showing “no inclination” to move on the Rockets‘ latest trade offer for Jimmy Butler, reports Shams Charania in a video for Stadium.
Charania confirms that Houston’s offer features four first-round picks, along with a pair of injured players — Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss. As I noted earlier today when I broke down the details of a potential Rockets offer, Knight and Chriss will become eligible to be traded in a package next Wednesday.
Even when they eventually get healthy, Knight and Chriss aren’t the sort of players who will come close to approximating Butler’s impact for the Timberwolves, so – as Charania suggests – there’s little incentive for Minnesota to jump on that offer right away. According to Charania, teams around the NBA expect the Wolves to continue to survey the market, perhaps waiting for clubs like the Heat or even the Sixers to get involved again.
The appeal of that Rockets offer to the Wolves may ultimately come down to who is making the final decision and what their top priorities are. We know that president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden have been seeking a package that features some combination of veteran talent, young prospects, and cap relief, so a pick-heavy offer may not do the trick.
The Spurs’ trade of Kawhi Leonard over the summer could be a good reference point for what the Wolves want for Butler. San Antonio sought an impact player who could help the club right away and ultimately accepted Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan-centric offer instead of, say, a Celtics offer loaded with draft picks. Of course, everyone with the Spurs seemed to be on the same page in that scenario — it’s not clear if that’s the case in Minnesota, where owner Glen Taylor may have different priorities than Thibodeau and Layden.
It’s also worth noting that, as the Spurs did with Leonard, the Wolves may prefer to send Butler to the Eastern Conference. Marc Stein of The New York Times has reported multiple times that Minnesota isn’t eager to help the Rockets create another Western Conference super-team.
The Rockets have made the Timberwolves a trade offer for Jimmy Butler that includes four first-round picks, according to a Thursday report. However, there’s still no indication that the Wolves are close to accepting that offer, or any others, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While it may seem shocking that Minnesota would turn down an offer featuring so many first-rounders, it’s worth digging into the details on those picks to get a sense of when they might change hands and how high they might land. Various reports on Houston’s offer haven’t entirely filled in those gaps, but we can make a few deductions based on a pair of rules included in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Stepien Rule:
As we explain in a glossary entry, this rule – named after former Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien – prevents teams from making trades that leave them without first-round picks in consecutive future years. A team that traded away its 2018 first-round pick can now trade away its 2019 first-rounder. However, if that team trades its 2019 first-round pick, it would be prohibited from trading away its 2020 first-rounder, unless it has acquired another team’s ’19 or ’20 pick.
This sounds a little complicated, but the upshot is that the Rockets couldn’t simply offer their 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 first-rounders to Minnesota — they’d have to spread them out more than that, to avoid leaving themselves without first-round picks in consecutive future seasons.
The Seven-Year Rule:
The other key restriction on traded draft picks is that teams can’t trade future selections more than seven years in advance. That means that during the 2018/19 league year, the latest pick a club could trade is a 2025 selection — the 2026 draft is eight years away.
When the Hawks reportedly offered four first-round picks to the Pacers for Paul George at the 2017 trade deadline, their situation was a little different. Because Atlanta had already acquired a handful of extra first-rounders, the club could have just sent Indiana four first-rounders from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 drafts and avoided violating the Stepien rule.
The Rockets, on the other hand, don’t have the luxury of having stockpiled extra draft picks. They only hold their own. So, in order to adhere to both the Stepien rule and the seven-year-rule, Houston only has one path to putting four first-rounders on the table — they’d have to offer their 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 picks.
Now, typically when a team trades away a first-round pick, that pick will include some sort of protection, and will roll over to the following year if it doesn’t convey. For example, the Cavaliers owe the Hawks their 2019 first-rounder, but it’s top-10 protected. If it lands in the top 10, Cleveland would instead owe Atlanta its 2020 first-round pick, which would once again be top-10 protected.
Due to the limitations imposed by the Stepien rule and the seven-year rule, it would be very tricky for the Rockets to include similar protections on the first-rounders they’re offering to Minnesota. That 2019 first-rounder couldn’t roll over to 2020 without impacting the traded 2021 pick, due to the Stepien rule, which in turn would create a domino effect on the rest of the picks.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that all four picks would be unprotected though. Let’s say that Houston, confident in its ability to be a contender for at least the next three years, made the 2019 and 2021 first-rounders unprotected, believing that they’ll fall in the mid- to late-20s. But maybe the Rockets are less confident about that 2023 pick. In theory, they could put protections on it like the Raptors put on the pick they traded to the Spurs in the DeMar DeRozan/Kawhi Leonard blockbuster this summer.
The Raptors’ first-round pick acquired by San Antonio in that trade is top-20 protected. If it lands in the top 20, the Spurs would instead receive a pair of second-round picks (2020 and 2023). Houston could do something similar with that 2023 first-rounder — maybe it could be top-10 protected, and would turn into 2023 and 2024 second-rounders if it lands in the top 10. The Rockets could perhaps take a similar approach with that 2025 pick, though the seven-year rule would be a hindrance.
We don’t know for sure that the Rockets are going that route, but a couple reports on their latest offer indicated that there are, at least, “limited” protections on the picks they offered. If that’s the case, it would reduce the chances of one or two of those first-rounders turning into a blue chip asset, like multiple Nets picks did in their infamous trade with the Celtics. That would reduce the appeal of the offer for Minnesota.
It’s also worth noting that the Rockets would still need to send out enough salary to take back Butler’s $20.45MM salary. An Eric Gordon/P.J. Tucker combination would work, but I’m skeptical that Houston would put those players on the table in an offer that also features four first-rounders — a willingness to surrender four picks suggests a win-now mentality, and Gordon and Tucker are two players that will help the Rockets win now.
Instead, the Rockets are believed to be offering a package of Brandon Knight ($14.63MM) and Marquese Chriss ($3.21MM). Those players, acquired from Phoenix on August 31, can be aggregated in a trade two months after that deal — so, anytime after next Wednesday.
Chriss still has some upside and his cap hit is modest, but Knight hasn’t played since 2016/17 due to injuries and has another guaranteed year on his contract beyond this season, reducing his value. Neither of those players would have the sort of immediate impact that Tom Thibodeau is seeking in a trade package for Butler.
Ultimately, while a Rockets offer that features four first-round picks sounds tantalizing on the surface, there are multiple variables that could diminish the actual value of the offer, and at least a couple of those first-rounders wouldn’t change hands for at least five years.
It’s unclear whether those 2023 and 2025 picks would sway GM Scott Layden and Thibodeau, who may not be a part of the Timberwolves organization by then. Perhaps owner Glen Taylor would be more tempted by the offer, but it’s worth considering that Taylor is 77 years old and has been waiting for years for his franchise to return to contention — he also may not be enthusiastic about the idea of counting on a player drafted in 2025.
The Timberwolves still have more than three months until this season’s trade deadline, so we’ll see if they remain patient or if this latest offer helps push the saga toward a resolution.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Rockets are making a renewed bid to trade for All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler, proposing an offer that includes four first-round draft picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Houston is likely offering first-rounders in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025, a proposal that could help solidify the Timberwolves’ future alongside Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. NBA rules prohibit teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive future years or picks more than seven years in advance.
Minnesota is said to be seeking a complete haul of future assets, young players and star talent, with Butler’s original trade request reaching the public more than a month ago. Butler has remained on the roster over a week into the season as the team continues to sift through potential trade packages.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor could have more interest in future assets than president Tom Thibodeau, who has prioritized a win-now mentality by seeking proposals that can help the team in the present day.
“When you look at Jimmy (Butler), he’s a top-10 player in the league,” Thibodeau said at Media Day last month. “We’re not going to make a bad deal. If it’s a good deal, then we’re interested.”
For Houston, the trade proposal shows their willingness to go all-in on a deep playoff run this season. Talks between the two teams are currently fluid, according to the ESPN.com report. The Rockets are currently dealing with injuries to James Harden, Nene and James Ennis, along with Chris Paul‘s multi-game suspension.
Butler, a top two-way player in the NBA, has averaged 24.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 steals in four games this season. He most recently requested to Wolves management that he be traded to the Heat, another team with longstanding interest in him. It’s unclear if he’d have interest in re-signing with the Rockets on a long-term deal once he reaches free agency in July of 2019.
With the 2018/19 regular season underway, trade chatter around the NBA has quieted down for the time being. Typically, teams don’t complete many trades near the start of the season, since they’re still taking stock of what they have on their rosters — plus, many players don’t become eligible to be dealt until December.
Still, given all the Jimmy Butler trade rumors we heard in the weeks leading up to opening night, it’s a little jarring how quickly those rumors were put on the back burner, as Butler plays alongside the teammates he reportedly berated in practice earlier this month.
Appearing this week on The HoopsHype podcast with Alex Kennedy, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revisited the Butler situation, exploring where things stand at the moment, and discussing when a deal might get done. Here are a few highlights from that conversation:
- Although team owner Glen Taylor acknowledged that the Timberwolves almost certainly have to trade Butler before February’s deadline, Windhorst thinks it might be “a while” before a deal is completed.
- As Windhorst observes, the Heat always appeared to be the most logical trade partner for Minnesota, but they didn’t want to bid against themselves. When Miami backed off trade talks before the season began, the club was betting that the Timberwolves had no other viable trade possibilities out there for Butler, and that might be true, says Windhorst.
- While the Heat and Rockets, who won’t have cap room in 2019, have reason to pursue Butler in an in-season trade, teams with cap space can afford to be more patient, especially if the four-time All-Star won’t turn them into a title contender right away. Windhorst points to the Clippers as one team that won’t go all-in for Butler on the trade market when they could have an opportunity to go after him in free agency in the summer.
- Interestingly, Windhorst identifies the Mavericks as one of the teams that still has interest in Butler. We heard last month that the Mavs had gauged the asking price for the All-NBA swingman, but a report out of Dallas suggested that it wasn’t a realistic landing spot for him. Like the Clippers, Dallas will have cap space in 2019.
- Windhorst believes that, while they won’t say so publicly, several of the young players on the Timberwolves‘ roster will be “excited” if and when Butler is dealt.