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Reports: Jimmy Butler’s trade preference is Clippers, Knicks less interested

By Dan FeldmanSep 19, 2018, 8:31 PM EDT
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Knicks president Steve Mills said New York wouldn’t trade its draft picks and wouldn’t trade for players it could just sign in free agency. In other words: No more Carmelo Anthony– or Andrea Bargnani-type deals.

Then, Jimmy Butler – who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer – requested a trade from the Timberwolves and put the Knicks on his list of preferred destinations (with the Nets and Clippers).

Will Mills hold firm in his patient plan?

Shams Charania of The Athletic:

Brooklyn and the Clippers appear motivated on Butler, while the Knicks have been firm all summer that the team does not want to part with assets and instead prioritize signing free agents outright, according to sources.

The Knicks should be reluctant to trade for Butler now. Especially with Kristaps Porzingis injured, Butler is unlikely to help New York win meaningfully this season. It’d be much better to sign him next summer and preserve assets.

But there’s no guarantee the Knicks sign him next summer. Whichever team has his Bird Rights and ability to offer him a larger contract will have the upper-hand. There is value in trading for him now.

Perhaps, the Knicks can find a worthwhile Butler trade that includes trading picks. The only way to find out is negotiating with Minnesota.  For New York to eliminate the idea outright because the team made mistakes in similar situations would be misguided.

But Knicks are going to Knick.

At least New York isn’t Butler’s first choice.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1042568202314764289

Might that other max slot go to Kyrie Irving?

First, L.A. must make the best offer to the Timberwolves and one acceptable to a reportedly reluctant Tom Thibodeau. Then, the Clippers must lure Irving – or any star (Kawhi Leonard?) – from his team.

It’s easy to imagine. It’s far more difficult to turn into reality.

Report: Jimmy Butler less enthused about Lakers after they signed LeBron James

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By Dan FeldmanSep 19, 2018, 6:55 PM EDT
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In 2014, Jimmy Butler said, “I like being a role player. Star has never been next to Jimmy Butler’s name. It never will be. I’ll always be an under-the-radar dawg.”

Then, Butler kept getting better and better. He started to appreciate his stature within the game. He took a leadership role on the Bulls. He embraced celebrity.

Maybe his trade request from the Timberwolves – ideally to the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets or L.A. Clippers – is the next step in this evolution.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

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.

Playing with LeBron isn’t for everyone. Kawhi Leonard reportedly became more reluctant to join the Lakers once they got LeBron. (Interestingly, Leonard is reportedly dissuaded by the hoopla LeBron would attract while Butler apparently believes he wouldn’t get enough of a spotlight).

And of course, Kyrie Irving requested and received a trade from LeBron’s Cavaliers last year. Irving and Butler are friends, and maybe Irving warned Butler about the perils of playing with LeBron.

I’m not sure how this report fits with Butler wanting to play with Irving, though. Irving is more popular than Butler. Perhaps, Irving holding a smaller stature than LeBron is enough for Butler. Maybe playing with Irving would be the exception to Butler’s desire to have his own team in a big market.

Or maybe Butler still winds up in Los Angeles with LeBron. Butler was reportedly open to it, though that’s a pretty low standard.

No matter what, Butler should pursue what he wants. NBA careers are short. Players should make the most of theirs, whatever that means to them.

Butler has so far shown he can balance working hard and playing well with stardom. He has earned the right to seek a larger public profile without major consternation about what it’d mean to his on-court production.

Reports: Jimmy Butler requests trade from Timberwolves; wants to play for Clippers, Nets, Knicks

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By Kurt HelinSep 19, 2018, 2:27 PM EDT
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Tom Thibodeau went all-in on Jimmy Butler, trading Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and swapping first-round picks with Chicago (which became Lauri Markkanen) to land the All-Star wing. On the surface it worked, Minnesota got 16 games better and made the playoffs for the first time since 2004, while Butler averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.

However, in the locker room things were not smooth. Butler is a Tom Thibodeau guy, and Karl-Anthony Towns is not, and there was a disconnect and tension between the two stars. Throw in Andrew Wiggins regressing after getting a big contract and frustrating everyone, plus nobody being happy with Tom Thibodeau grinding the starters into the ground, and you had one unhappy locker room.

How unhappy? How frustrated is Butler heading into a contract year? In a meeting with Thibodeau Tuesday in Los Angeles, Butler asked to be traded, reports Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

Butler may have wanted assurances he was the No. 1 priority of Minnesota in the future, but while he is a better player than Towns today Butler is also six years older, has battled injuries, and has Thibodeau miles on his body.

That’s why Timberwolves put a five-year max rookie contract extension on the table in front of Towns on July 1, he is the future. However, Towns has yet to sign it. The Butler situation is reported to be the key reason. Once Towns signs the deal, he is the player in Minnesota with the power, and that’s not ideal for Butler or Thibodeau.

The timing of this is brutal for the Timberwolves. Thibodeau reportedly doesn’t want to trade Butler — he bet a lot on him and is close to Butler, this is his biggest allies — but may not have a choice. Eventually. This likely will drag out beyond when training camp opens next Tuesday, which is going to be a mess.

If (when?) the Timberwolves trade Butler they are not going to recoup near what they gave up to get him, not even close, but they may need to get something back. Butler wants to go to the Nets, Clippers, or Knicks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Minnesota is under no obligation to send Butler where he wants to go, they need to get back the best deal they can. However, leaking this could discourage other teams from jumping in with a big offer (not always, see Kawhi Leonard and Toronto or Paul George in Oklahoma City). Other teams — the Sixers, the Lakers — may well have interest and could even reach out about a trade, but both are more likely to want to get Butler as a free agent. (The Sixers have the assets to make an attractive trade offer if they wanted, the Lakers would have to trade Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball right now to make the financials work because all those veterans on one-year deals can’t be moved until Dec. 15.)

However, if the report that Butler is willing to talk contract extension with those three teams — which at its max is $29 million total less than he could sign for as a free agent with another team — it could encourage the Clippers, Knicks, and Nets to go big and try to get a deal done. This could move faster than expected. But probably not because Thibodeau wants to see if he can get the Minnesota locker room to sing kumbaya.

Either way, the drama in Minnesota has started before training camp has even opened. And media day next Monday is going to be awkward.

Brett Brown on Ben Simmons: ‘His jump shot’s not going to define him’

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Associated PressSep 19, 2018, 8:55 AM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz are expected this season to join Philadelphia’s Big Three.

No, not as franchise cornerstones – the No. 1 draft picks were already part of that trio with All-Star center Joel Embiid.

But as long-distance shooters, Simmons and Fultz went 0 for the season on 3s; Simmons, the NBA rookie of the year, missed all 11 attempts and Fultz went 0 for 1 from 3-point range.

Sixers coach Brett Brown said both players have put in the work needed on their jumpers, though neither player will ever become defined by his work beyond the arc. Brown said Fultz took about 150,000 shots this summer under the tutelage of trainer Drew Hanlen. Simmons has worked with his brother, Liam, a former college basketball assistant coach, at 3s and shooting from the elbow.

Simmons attempted just one 3 in the postseason and he’ll have to establish some sort of long-range jumper to become a serious all-around threat in the NBA.

“His jump shot’s not going to define him,” Brown said Tuesday. “At some point, it will sure help. But I have aspirations, ambitions for him where I want him to feature on an all-defensive team. I personally want to post him more. I look forward to using him as a screener and giving Markelle the ball and let him roll out of it, that Blake Griffin-sort of half-roll and go to dunk.”

Simmons also needed work on his free throws: He made 191 of 341 for just 56 percent.

“Imagine if he can score one more point, it translates to like three to five more wins,” Brown said. “When I look at how you’re going to do that, that’s one way that interests me, let’s just get him more free throws. Can you finish, can you be a better free-throw shooter than you were in the regular season? He has to be.”

Fultz, the No. 1 pick of the 2017 draft, is bordering on bust territory after just one season. His rookie year was derailed by a mysterious shoulder injury, a broken shot and confidence issues. He played the first four games, missed 68 games because of injury, and then was benched in the playoffs against the Celtics. The most baffling moment came when he refused to answer questions about his shoulder, simply staring blankly ahead and rubbing his head.

Fultz struggled with his mechanics when he did play, and his shooting form was widely mocked around the NBA. No one in the organization could pinpoint when Fultz’s form went awry, though he started experiencing soreness shortly after he was drafted.

Brown said he was part of a “Team Markelle” formed this summer to help get the 20-year-old back on track.

“When I see him now come back into our gym, you look at his swagger, his cocky side, his mojo, he’s seeking shots,” Brown said. “He really is not bashful. When I look at the actual form, there are times, from a posture standpoint, he’s a little bit backward. When you look at him rising up, or getting the ball in his shot pocket, sometimes his head will go back and he’ll play more in a fade-type fundamental that we want to try and correct.”

But if Simmons can’t shoot and Fultz can’t shoot, then how are they going to play together on a Sixers team that won 52 games last season?

“At (some) point of the game, is it the start, is it ending, those two guys will play together,” Brown said. “There’s zero doubt we’ll go through some growing pains as everyone expects and should expect.”

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Knicks’ Courtney Lee denies report he wants to be traded to contender

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By Kurt HelinSep 19, 2018, 7:53 AM EDT
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The Knicks have moves to make to ensure they have enough cap space to go big game hunting among free agents next summer. That means some kind of buyout/waive and stretch with Joakim Noah and making decisions on guys such as Lance Thomas, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Ron Baker.

Another idea that has been at least explored is trading Courtney Lee, although there was no real traction there this summer. That led to a report from Marc Berman of the New York Post that Lee wants to be traded to a contender.

Lee does not want to be traded, he made it clear to Ian Begley of ESPN.

There can be something to both reports. Does Lee want to be traded? No. He wants to stay a Knick. However, if they are shopping him, he’d probably rather land with a playoff team or contender than another rebuilding team.

Which is what the Knicks are this year with Kristaps Porzingis injured, it’s a season about new coach David Fizdale laying a foundation and starting to change the culture, not wins or the playoffs.

Whether he wants it or not, Lee’s name will come up in trade rumors this season. Whether the Knicks can ultimately find a deal is another question entirely.