Minnesota Offers No. 5 Pick, Ups the Butler Ante

According to Marc Stein and Chad Ford of ESPN, the Minnesota Timberwolves are willing to make the No. 5 pick available as part of a trade to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls.

Shortly before the NBA Finals were about tip off for Game 5 in Oakland, California, ESPN’s Marc Stein sent out a tweet which stated that the Timberwolves are willing to move the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft in a potential deal with the Bulls in exchange for Jimmy Butler.

About a week ago, I wrote about a potential trade between the Bulls and Wolves. In that trade scenario, the Wolves get their man, Butler, and the Bulls get young assets and a top five pick in the upcoming draft. Now it looks like that far-fetched hypothesis could be gaining traction in the real world.

In their piece for ESPN, Stein and Ford cite league sources who say that the Wolves would be willing to part with the pick:

"“Sources told ESPN.com that the Wolves, in these early days of the Tom Thibodeau era, have made it known to the Bulls that they are strongly interested in dealing for Butler should Chicago elect to make him available.”"

We’ve already covered some of what this trade might entail. The original idea was that the Bulls would look to acquire Ricky Rubio and the No. 5 pick for Butler (and possibly the No. 14 pick). As the possibility of a Butler trade with the Wolves starts to look a bit more likely, at least from the Minnesota end of the table, it might be time to face the reality that it would cost them much more than just Rubio and the No. 5. They wouldn’t be getting the No. 14 back and they might be more interested in taking Zach LaVine and some combination of Gorgui Dieng or Shabazz Muhammad.

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That’s a pretty steep ask from the Bulls, but we know that they aren’t inclined to play ball with Tom Thibodeau anyway. Unless they are, because one thing is certain about the Gar Forman-John Paxson unholy alliance – they haven’t shown any consistent strategy regarding the future direction of the team.

No matter what GarPax might be capable of, there are two pieces of this emerging story that could point to smoke or fire.

First, the smoke.

While there is every reason to believe that Thibodeau would love to be reunited with Butler, there isn’t a lot of indication yet on Butler’s feelings on the subject. He wasn’t a huge fan of Thibs according to exit interviews shortly before his ex-coach was relieved of his duties. Similarly, he isn’t a fan of GarPax. He isn’t alone there; most Bulls fans also don’t care for the Chicago front office duo and who knows how many other players may share similar sentiments. Still, given the divide between Thibs and GarPax, there is the real possibility that this is a smokescreen, a publicity stunt. The reason: make it known that the No. 5 pick in the draft is up for grabs for any team that is looking to move up the draft board in exchange for established talent.

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The second bit is fire.

At the beginning of June, Eric Pincus wrote a piece about the impending trade kickers around the league for Basketball Insiders. In the piece he breaks down the cost of not trading a whole group of NBA players prior to July. Why this matters: as Pincus tweeted out this evening after the news broke regarding the Wolves supposed willingness to move the No. 5 pick, the Bulls stand to save $2.6 million in salary bonus for Butler if he is traded by the end of June.

That’s correct, $2.6 million. Even in an ever-increasing salary cap reality, that is a big chunk of change. More than $2.6 million being the difference in trying to acquire other star players or avoid any particularly steep repeater tax or cap hold standing between Chicago and signing a player like Kevin Durant, this just means that owner Jerry Reinsdorf would have to spend money. If you’ve been keeping up with Reinsdorf over the last 20 or so years, you might be aware that he is loath to spend money on the Bulls. It wasn’t until the Thibs era that the team he owns crossed into the salary cap tax. Sure, let bygones be bygones, but remember that Reinsdorf has clearly stated his preference for his beloved White Sox and allowed the Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen triumvirate to be disbanded by anything other than retirement or death.

Next: Furkan Korkmaz Available for Bulls at No. 14?

We have one indicator that a Butler deal may not be a real opportunity for either team, rather a ruse to kick up some interest and offers for that first-round Wolves pick. You know, see who might be desperate or foolish enough to cough up an established all-star type player in exchange for the right draft any player not named Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons. We have another indicator, more of a red flag, that the Bulls don’t like to spend much money and have an opportunity to cut ties with the long-term commitment to Butler while saving themselves a couple million dollars that likely will not be put to good use anywhere else in the organization.

For now, the assumption is that there is no real opportunity for the Wolves to bait the Bulls into a trade. Honestly, we are talking the No. 5, LaVine or Rubio and maybe Muhammad or Dieng. Even then, the Bulls could have their sites on Wiggins and the No. 5 as a minimum threshold to even engage in serious talks. We just don’t know what they’re thinking or what they would be willing to do at this point.

If the Wolves are serious about this deal, the No. 5 is just the starting point and my guess is that another name or two will have to drop from the league sources of Stein and Ford if the Bulls are going to flinch. With the draft quickly approaching and trade rumors setting the internet ablaze, we are bound to find out sooner than later.