Jimmy Butler hasn’t shied away from the fact that he’s more than willing (and may actually want) to leave the Minnesota Timberwolves. After rejecting the team’s four-year, $110 million max contract extension offer, it’s become very likely he’ll join a loaded 2019 NBA free agent class.
Or, he may even get traded during the season if Minnesota believes they won’t be able to re-sign him.
Butler has one year left on his current deal, as well as a player option for the 2019-20 season, per Spotrac. And according to a recent report, if Butler does indeed opt out and become a free agent, one potential landing spot could be with the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James.
As Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report revealed, Butler is “open” to the idea of it.
“Per a source close to Butler, he’s open to the idea of moving on from the Timberwolves to play alongside James in Los Angeles.”
The thought of Butler playing next to James is an interesting one, and it makes sense. We’ve seen the 28-year-old shooting guard produce at a high level even when playing alongside talented teammates. In his lone season with the Timberwolves, Butler averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists over 59 regular season games.
Tack on the fact that the Lakers are obviously looking to add another superstar to pair with LeBron, and it could be a perfect match. The lone question becomes whether this would happen in free agency, or if the Lakers could swing a trade during the year.
Los Angeles has a few players with big cap numbers set for the 2018-19 season, as Spotrac shows. This group includes Luol Deng’s $18 million, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s $12 million and Rajon Rondo at $12 million. Quite a few options could be on the table for a trade, and the Lakers have a plethora of young players who could potentially be included in a deal for Butler as well.
Over the span of his career, Butler has averaged 16.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists over 458 games played. He’s made four NBA All-Star Games and was named to the All-NBA Third Team twice.
This could be a situation to monitor moving forward, but a Butler/James duo in Los Angeles seems like a legitimate option.
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Report: Jimmy Butler open to joining LeBron James with Lakers