NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Possible Jimmy Butler Trade and Dion Waiters
With media day behind us and training camp upon us, it's tempting to say the NBA is back.
But as far as hoop junkies are concerned, it never really left. Rather, the offseason just jumped from one juicy storyline to the next, and the proximity to the opening of the 2018-19 campaign has done nothing to slow that down.
We'll examine the two most notable items on the rumor mill below.
New Preferred Destination for Jimmy Butler?
It looks like the race to obtain Jimmy Butler might produce a photo finish.
After opening as a potential three-team tussle between the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers, a hierarchy soon emerged among the trio. The Clippers were his favored spot, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, with the Knicks close behind and the Nets a relatively distant third.
So much for that, apparently.
League sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times that the Miami Heat are now the preferred landing spot, and this has been communicated to the Timberwolves:
What Minnesota does with that information, of course, is anyone's guess. The Timberwolves sound ready to move him, but only at the right price.
"Our reality is that he has requested a trade, so we'll honor that," head coach Tom Thibodeau told CBS Sports' Reid Forgrave. "But we're not just going to make any deal. ... We're going to do what's good for the Timberwolves. We have to prioritize that."
The issue is no one seems to know what Minnesota wants. Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe reported that rival executives and owners are "unclear about both the specific players and broader kinds of assets that the Wolves value in a deal."
That information is critically important since offers from the Nets or Clippers might look dramatically different from those made by the Heat or Houston Rockets.
The latter ESPN report also detailed the likelihood of needing to involve a third team, specifically the Sacramento Kings. Sacramento has the financial wiggle room and expiring contracts to take a bloated contract off Minnesota's hands (Gorgui Dieng's remaining three years and $48 million, for instance), provided it is properly compensated with a draft pick and possibly cash considerations.
Butler will almost certainly enter free agency at season's end with only a $19.8 million player option left on his deal by then. That both complicates matters for interested suitors and increases Minnesota's need to get something done long before risking him leaving for nothing.
Butler has been an All-Star each of the last four seasons and is one of only six players to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and 4.5 assists in each of the past three. He's a four-time All-Defensive selection and a two-time All-NBA second-teamer.
Heat "Aggressively" Shopping Dion Waiters?
While Dion Waiters is a name often bandied about in potential Jimmy Butler deals, it sounds like the Heat are willing to part with the scoring guard in non-Butler deals, too.
That's according to what the Five Reasons Sports Network has gleaned from multiple league sources:
That follows with what Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported hearing over the summer.
It passes the logic test, too.
Even in a vacuum, Waiters looks expendable, as a player with an $11.5 million salary and a career player efficiency of only 12.1. Tack on Miami's glut at the guard position, and it only increases potential motivation to move him.
That said, Waiters' current contract had less to do with his career accomplishments than it did his sizzling play after the midpoint of the 2016-17 season. Prior to an ankle injury ending his run, he had a 21-game stretch where he averaged 19.6 points on 47 percent shooting (46.4 percent from three) and 5.1 assists, including one of the most memorable Miami game-winners in recent history.
The Heat bet on the former No. 4 pick's potential then, they just haven't seen much of a return on that investment since. He was injured most of last season (and still hasn't fully recovered from that ankle injury, which required surgery in January) and was largely ineffective when he played (14.3 points on 39.8 percent shooting).
The fact his trade market seemingly hasn't developed yet may suggest that it never will, but Miami appears committed to trying to find him a new home.
Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com. Salary information obtained via Basketball Insiders.
