12:02 pm | September 19, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
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Adrian WojnarowskiESPN
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler is requesting a trade, and his three preferred destinations are the Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers and New York Knicks, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Butler wants a trade to a team that plans to sign him to a five-year, maximum contract that could be worth $190 million in the summer, and his list could expand based upon the Timberwolves and rival teams’ willingness to negotiate a trade for him, league sources said.
For now, however, Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau has no interest in trading Butler and wants to try and return to the playoffs with him in the lineup, league sources said.
Miami has also been a team with interest in Butler, league sources said, but the Heat don’t have the salary cap space in July to pursue him.
Butler met with Thibodeau on Tuesday in Los Angeles, and informed him that he didn’t want to start the season with the Timberwolves and hoped to be traded to a big market team that would want to sign him in the summer.
The Athletic first reported Butler’s trade request.
The Clippers, Knicks and Nets have differing levels of interest in Butler as a free agent, each prioritizing him in different ways, league sources said. Butler will join a free agent class that could include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan and Kemba Walker.
Knicks president Steve Mills said at a fan town hall event on Monday that his team would not trade assets for a player it felt was attainable in free agency.
“We’re going to build this team the right way,” Mills said, in response to a fan’s question. “What we’re not going to do is trade away assets to get a [free agent] that we can go get on our own later.”
Butler, 30, wants the five-year, $190 million maximum extension that could come with a trade to a new team, but there is some reluctance to teams to commit $40 million-plus annually as Butler reaches his mid-30’s, league sources told ESPN.
He can sign the 5-year, $190 million with the Timberwolves next summer if he isn’t traded, or he can sign a four-year, $141M deal with a new team.
Butler is downplaying his fractured relationship with young All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns as a reason for wanting a trade, league sources said. He is enamored with the idea of playing a central role in a big market, sources said. Butler had once imagined playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but LeBron James‘ arrival as the franchise’s cornerstone made it less appealing for Butler in the prime of his career, league sources said.
Minnesota is resistant to immediately honor the trade request, especially given Thibodeau’s tenuous status with owner Glen Taylor, league sources said. It is hard to construct trade packages for Butler that would help the Wolves be a comparable team in the short-term. If a team doesn’t think it can sign Butler long-term — or has the salary cap space to sign him outright in July like the Clippers, Knicks and Nets — the idea of unloading valuable assets in a trade makes less sense now.
Thibodeau traded recent first-round picks, including Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and the No. 7 overall pick that became Lauri Markkanen in 2017 in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.
ESPN’s Ian Begley contributed to this report.
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