How to Trade Jimmy Butler to The Minnesota Timberwolves
The Chicago Bulls have been on an adventure for the past several years, from the front office, to the head coaching position, and roaring through the roster – this team is on the verge of some major movement. Jimmy Butler may be part of that movement.
When an earthquake is unleashed, there is an energy being released as massive tectonic plates which are unseen enter into massive friction and something finally gives way. You may not see the friction or be aware of the fault lines that you stand on, but you definitely can see the results when this friction erupts in seismic waves capable of devastation.
The Bulls have friction. A lot of it is only revealed from suspect sources or as hearsay, but from Joakim Noah to Pau Gasol to Derrick Rose and the departed Luol Deng right on through to the team’s most recent long-term commitment, Jimmy Butler. There is a lot of friction around Butler and his attempt to assert himself as a team leader in Chicago. As a result, it should come as no surprise that all of the other established personalities that occupy the same Bulls locker room have helped create a fault line that is ready to send forth its destructive waves of seismic, max-contract energy.
It has long been believed that animals can sense earthquakes before humans are aware of the impending event. The announced departure of Benny the Bull should probably be seen as a portend of what lies ahead for the Chicago roster and an unavoidable shakeup.
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That might mean that the team does the right thing by letting Gasol walk, perhaps even helping push him out the door and locking it behind him. Likewise, Noah has probably played his last game for the Bulls. The fiery center bleeds basketball, but he never bothered to learn when he has lost too much blood and belongs in a bench role where he can conserve his broken body and still have a tremendous impact on the game.
Given two of the primary friction epicenters are likely to exit, that still leaves at least two major players with a San Andreas-sized fault line running between them – Butler and Rose.
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Rose is about to enter a contract year and coming off his most healthy season since around the time he was last up for a pay raise. He will be out hunting for his last major payday. On the other side, you have Butler who just finished year one of his first big contract. Still, Butler, who was the Chicago representative at the lottery drawing on May 17, has had issues that almost gloss over all the questions and conundrums that engulf the Rose situation. Butler has had a noticeable shift in his demeanor since signing his extension and has taken to criticizing his coach in public. Oh, and he refers to himself in the third person. Jimmy, you’re not Ricky Henderson. Stop.
Assuming that Rose is likely gone after this year and that the Bulls front office routinely fails to turn expiring contracts into anything more than a guy wearing a suit at the end of the bench, that leaves us with Butler. And the rumors have been flying full force. The Boston Celtics were among the teams considered most likely to strike up a deal, but Danny Ainge likely just called and offered Jared Sullinger straight up and didn’t understand why the other end of the line went dead immediately.
Another, extremely unlikely suitor? The Minnesota Timberwolves. Yeah, this really is crazy. Not because it seems like a terrible idea to trade a star who may be clashing with your new head coach and half the roster, but because of hubris. More than anything, the Bulls front office is drowning in it. It was amply present on both ends of their bitter separation with Tom Thibodeau. And it is that same hubris that will choke all life from any potential deal between the ex-Bulls coach and Gar Forman or John Paxson.
The logical conclusion was that the potential for a trade between the Wolves and Bulls is intriguing and beneficial for both sides, but impossible.
For a great read on why a Jimmy Butler deal would be a plausible move for the Wolves, read the work of William Bohl here. The idea he had for the piece was reinforced by a conversation via Twitter between Bohl and Jason Patt.
The logical conclusion was that if such a trade could take place, most Wolves fans would be opposed to the price that Butler would command. And in all fairness to the plight of the fan, the deal is fair at best and perhaps not enough. The logical conclusion was that the potential for a trade between the Wolves and Bulls is intriguing and beneficial for both sides, but impossible.
And so I present an alternative Butler to Minnesota trade: Butler and the 14th pick for Ricky Rubio, Gorgui Dieng and the 5th pick.
The immediate response is profanity-laden and correct. Maybe. The Wolves, more their fans, love Rubio. I love Rubio. Who doesn’t love Rubio? But there is smoke here, so how about fire.
Thibodeau’s stance on Rubio isn’t perfectly clear. He’s worked with pass-first guards before, namely Rajon Rondo. But all indications are that Rubio could be traded. If a trade for Butler was something that the Wolves are serious about, it is time to turn those Rubio rumors into reality. He is the kind of player that Fred Hoiberg would fall asleep laugh/crying about every night for a solid year. A facilitator with an uncanny enjoyment of life on the sunny side. That addition would almost immediately eradicate the ball stopping of the current back court.
The Wolves, more their fans, love Rubio. I love Rubio. Who doesn’t love Rubio?
The contracts work, too. The Bulls would be giving up a player on a cap-friendly, long-term deal. It would be a great addition to take back a similarly friendly deal that has several years left on it.
In one move, Thibodeau could move on from Rubio and bring in his favorite son. Assuming, you know, that Butler wasn’t one of the players who wanted Thibs fired in exit interviews after his final season coaching the Bulls. A Bulls roster that features LaVine, Wiggins, Towns and Butler is a squad that grows into their potential while Butler enters his prime and is around long enough to be a key part of the Timberwolves return to the playoffs and potentially more.
To help ease the pain of losing Ricky and the No. 5 pick, the Wolves also take back the No. 14 pick. At this position, they can’t get Ingram or Simmons, but that wasn’t available at the five-spot either. What players are projected to be available? Denzel Valentine, Cheick Diallo, Dejounte Murray, Malik Beasley, Thon Maker and many more. There are no home runs guaranteed in those picks, but that isn’t what Thibodeau is looking for at this point.
The presumption in this fool’s errand of a trade is that Thibodeau wants to win now and hypothetically wants to move Rubio this offseason while acquiring an established star that fits his system. The Bulls and Thibs, beyond their petty post-breakup behavior, would be very intriguing trade partners. For now, it cannot be reality, but it can be 2,000 words of conjecture and fun.