NBA Free Agent Rumors 2011: Dallas' Caron Butler Meets with San Antonio Spurs

With free agency planned to open on Friday, it seems as if the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks have little chance of re-signing many of their free agents this year. This would include the possible losses of players like Tyson Chandler, Jose Barea and Caron Butler.

Butler, a former all-star with the Washington Wizards, has been one of the most highly regarded free agents this offseason, due to his experience, leadership and shot-making ability.

Teams that have been said to be interested in Butler include the Bulls, Clippers, Nets and Spurs, the longtime rival of his Dallas Mavericks.

Butler recently tweeted that he had already met with San Antonio, and that it was a great visit.

The potential deal would be an excellent fit for both sides. In fact today, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Spurs wing-man Richard Jefferson became the first victim of the league's new amnesty clause, ridding San Antonio of his three-year, $30 million contract from their cap space.

Working alongside all-star shooting guard Manu Ginobili, Butler would provide the Spurs with another excellent scoring threat on the wing, and would be an excellent target for Tony Parker. He would also be an upgrade over Jefferson defensively, and would solidify a starting rotation already full of other great defenders.

It's not likely that the Mavericks will spend much time pursuing Butler, because he would eat up too much cap room for them. Dallas already has to try to fight for the contracts of both Barea and Chandler on top of that.

It's also rumored that Dallas is ready to start getting younger, and could possibly allow all three to leave in order to pick up some more youthful talent.

Butler played for the Mavericks for the last two-and-a-half seasons, but missed a significant amount of games during both seasons due to injuries.

At the age of 31, Butler is still an outstanding NBA talent, but it's likely that his recent injury history would allow him to go for a much lower price this offseason.

Caron Butler, however talented he may be, never saw as much floor time as anybody would have wished for him in Dallas, so it would be interesting how fans on both side of the Spurs-Mavs rivalry would take the signing of Butler to San Antonio.