Jimmy Butler wants out? (He does.)

Butler should make whatever statements hurt his trade value. Make it easier for teams to trade for him and give up less so his new team can keep talent to win.

Sucks now for Minny, but they had their chance to fix this at the start of the summer when he first told them he wouldn't play with Towns/Wiggins. There is a reason this franchise has been a joke for decades.

 

Turner is worth much more than Dieng since his contract has one less year. That has to be included in considering the return for Butler.

Same rationale that an expiring contract is worth much more than Meyers.

 

I think MIN would prefer a slightly modified version (Harkless to SAC) of the trade I previously proposed (that you shit all over):



Plus our 2019 first round pick to MIN and one or two futures 2nd round picks to MIN was my original proposal.

So, change that to this by moving Harkless to SAC:



And divide up the picks to make both MIN and SAC happy.

Why would MIN prefer this trade over yours (basically replace Turner with Leonard and Aminu). Several reasons. First, it saves them even more money. Meyers and Aminu make a few hundred K less than Turner this season, but Aminu is an expiring. So that saves them over $7 million next year. With Butler and Dieng gone, plus Gibson and Aminu both expiring, they shave a ton of salary off their payroll next summer.

The whole "Turner is a Thibs guy" is WAY overstated. Glen Taylor is calling the shots on this Butler trade, not Tom Thibodeau and I'm pretty sure Evan Turner isn't a Glen Taylor guy. Plus, Aminu and Meyers give them somethings they actually need - 3-point shooting, for one. MIN was dead last in the league in made 3-pointers last season. MIN was also below league average (19th) in 3FG%. Adding Evan Turner (.318 3FG%) would only make things worse. Aminu (.369) and Meyers (.423) both shot above league average 3FG%, and combined made over 3x as many 3-pointers as Turner.

If Taylor wants to throw Thibs a bone, Aminu also qualifies as a Thibs type of player - but one who can actually make an open 3-pointer. And, after trading Dieng and with Patton injured, they are going to need a back up center. Meyers is Meyers, but he's a big body that can give them 12 or 13 MPG and knock down some 3-pointers, until Patton is healthy.

So, this trade saves them even more money and gives them two players that address short term needs, one hot prospect (Simons) and a future asset (1st round pick).

BNM

 

Sounds like you nailed it PtldPlatypus -

Per Larry Coon's NBA Salary CAP FAQ:
December 15 - Players who signed a contract on or before September 15 can be traded.
January 15 - Players who signed a contract on or before October 15 can be traded. (applies only to Larry Bird or Early Bird free agents who re-sign with their prior team, the team is over the cap, and the player receives a raise greater than 20%)

Edit: .. and draft picks can't be traded until 30 days after they sign. Lots more additional info here on trade restrictions.

 

The only difference between your revised trade and mine is you took out a guy Thibs is actually on record about, multiple times, and replaced him with an expiring they have no control over, and Meyers Leonard, who is the antithesis of Thibs. I won’t even get into how you managed to make Portland worse in the process. Good job though!

 

You really think Thibs is still calling the shots in MIN? Glen Taylor is, and he would MUCH rather have Aminu/Leonard than Turner - for the cost savings alone.

Plus, it would help address one of their biggest weaknesses - MIN's need for 3-point shooting. Sure, take the least prolific 3-point shooting team in the entire league and make them worse by replacing Butler with Turner. Yeah, that's a great strategy in today's NBA.

So, getting Jimmy Butler without giving up any of Dame, C.J., Nurk or Collins makes us worse? Ok, I think we're done here.

Sure, I'd love to dump Turner on them (or anyone), but other than the fact that their coach (who is no longer calling the shots) once complimented him, there is no practical reason why they would want a guy who makes $17.9 million this year, $18.6 million next year and can't hit a 3-pointer, over two guys who combined will make $17.6 million this year, $11.3 million next year and can actually make an open 3-pointer. Taylor wants to go young and taking on Turner and his contract delays the process. No way in hell does Glen Taylor want to "control" (aka: get stuck with) Evan Turner and his contract for two years. The whole point of getting rid of Dieng is to accelerate their plans. Getting Aminu and Leonard instead of Turner gets them where they want to be sooner.

BNM

 

If Taylor is calling the shots why is Butler still in Minnesota? Why hasn’t Thibs been fired?

As long as he’s in Minnesota, Thibs is in charge imo. He’s president of basketball ops. That’s his job. Now Taylor can tell him to get a deal done, but he’s not the one that’s ultimately going to decide on which offer to actually accept imo. If he is, Thibs will be packing his bags as well.

 

Because Taylor hasn't approved any of the offers yet.

If Thibs was still in charge, they wouldn't even be listening to offers for Butler.

The decision is Taylor's. He's the one who signs the checks. Thibs hasn't been fired because his main job is coach.

BNM

 

So the president of basketball ops part of his job is what? How do you know Taylor even knows the league well enough to make a call on such a major move?

 

The part of his job he's not doing.

Glen Taylor gave Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Towns both max. extensions. He wants to build around his youth, not the older "Thib's guys". Taylor has owned the Timberwolves since 1994. He isn't some yocal that just fell off the turnip truck. He may not be an excerpt capologist (neither is Thibs). He has Scott Layden to make sure any offered trades meet the requirements of the CBA. He's not operating in a vacuum. He also knows what he doesn't want - Jimmy Butler anywhere around the young players he's invested $300 million in.

BNM

 

BNM - I just don't see Butler coming to the blazers. It would be worth bringing him in if we didn't have to give up CJ and/or Collins.
I then Thibs and the owner would take less to get him out of their division.

 

Wow didn’t know you were so in tune with the wolves inner workings.

And if he wanted to build around “youth” and not “Thibs guys” why didn’t he stop Thibs from getting his guys?

 

Maybe. But if they aren't in win now mode, maybe it's not such a big deal?

 

He was fine with Thibs bringing in his guys until Butler started clashing with Wiggins and Towns. He gave Thibs the leeway to do things his way and it didn't work. Now he wants Bulter gone and going back to building around Towns and Wiggins.

BNM

 

Oh is that why he allowed him to sign Deng and Rose? Bet he gets Noah too. He’s got no option but to build around Wiggins and KAT. Butler took care of that himself.

 

I see Miami may be close on a deal; MN wants Richardson and Adabayo, don't know if they will get that. I'd like to say "Jump in there, Neil" but I seem to have lost my hope that this will happen.

 

There’s nothing Portland could offer that would top Richardson and Bam anyway, short of putting CJ on the table.

 

What's so special about Josh Richardson? He's 25, a below average NBA player with little, or no, upside?

Bam has future role player/solid starter potential, but will never be close to an NBA all star and plays the same position as the guy they just signed to a max. extension.

They'd basically be getting a below average wing player and KAT's back up.

BNM