Minnesota Sports Forum

OK, I think I'm posting in the right spot here? :). Here's a list of what I consider to be realistic Jimmy Butler trades. Thanks for Monster, I've fixed an error in my Sixers trade. Which of these would you choose?

I fear even these options are too opDOUGistic.

I've seen reports that the Heat haven't offered Richardson. I'd be surprised if Memphis moved Jaren Jackson.

I mean, it's crazy. Butler is clearly worth more than these packages in any normal circumstance. The consensus around the league is that he's around the 15th best player in the whole league. But this is not a normal circumstance. I can't think of a worse time or situation to trade a player. We're gonna get screwed.

I voted for Covington and the picks. Basically you get a good vet player and don't take any bad salary back plus you get 2 valuable picks. I think I might do this deal even without one of the picks which to be honest is probably more realistic.

I think the Heat would be willing to do one of those deals. If you really didn't want Whiteside one option would be waive and stretch him. You could probably get him to agree to give up some money in the buyout to lower that 27 million next year that's his player option. That's not ideal, but it would save money over paying Dieng. I don't think the Wolves would or should do that because I think Whiteside would be worth keeping around in case we actually needed a center if Town got hurt or you need salary filler or some team wants to take him off our hands next offseason but I thought the waive and stretch was worth mentioning.

I do like both Richardson and Covington. I think Covington's impact is probably bigger right now because of his length on defense, but Richardson still has more offensive upside. If we had more efficient offensive options who can score with volume outside of Towns, I'd lean toward Covington. He just fits a great role. But I don't like the inefficiency of our perimeter offense and I think Wiggins clearly needs to go if we can, so in that case, I guess I'd prefer Richardson to fill that role.

2 or 3 years before Okogie and Richardson are two of the best defensive starting 2/3 in the league...leaving Wiggins either coming off the bench or traded?

I voted for the memphis deal. I really like Jaren Jackson Jr. He is a 3 and D type pf. Fits nicely with Towns and Wig in the frontline for the future. It will take him a few years though.

Are these trades outside even realistic. Reports are that heat haven't offered Richardson.

Memphis hasn't even been reported at all.

We are just assuming the sixers trade.


That's why i'm curious on is thibs being unrealistic by only offering for players like simmons or is there legit no good offer on the table.

I mean the nets won't even put lavert on the table.

I know there was a report of Gordon and WCS come to for wolves, butler to the rockets and dieng and rockets 1st to the kings.

Also listened to Jalen and Jacoby and they said wolves offered butler for Middleton and got declined.

If players like lavert and Richardson are not even on the table. I don't blame thibs making a trade

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:I fear even these options are too opDOUGistic.

I've seen reports that the Heat haven't offered Richardson. I'd be surprised if Memphis moved Jaren Jackson.

I mean, it's crazy. Butler is clearly worth more than these packages in any normal circumstance. The consensus around the league is that he's around the 15th best player in the whole league. But this is not a normal circumstance. I can't think of a worse time or situation to trade a player. We're gonna get screwed.

My thinking is that the Heat would be willing to include Richardson if it included swapping Whiteside for Gorgui. Gorgui is far more of a Pat Riley player than Whiteside. In fact, Whiteside is the antithesis of a Riley guy and it was widely reported last season that Riley was shopping him aggressively. So if we really want Richardson, we'll probably have to take Whiteside in the package. But if we want Abedayo, which would be my choice, I think we'd need to take Waiters - another guy Riley would like to get rid of. I was tempted to include a Richardson/Abedayo/Winslow package, but I concluded that's probably not realistic at this point even though I think it would be more than fair to the Heat under different circumstances.

So you're right that the circumstances have significantly reduced the value we should otherwise be able to get for Butler. That's why I wanted to trade Butler back in June. Butler ultimately put us in this position with a trade demand just before the beginning of the season and leaking the demand so that it became public. But Thibodeau allowed it to happen. If I could see the storm clouds on the horizon back in May, then shame on Thibodeau for either not seeing it himself or seeing it yet failing to resolve the Butler situation one way or the other months ago.

I truly believe that at least one of the four trades in my poll could be done tomorrow. My first choice would be the Jaren Jackson deal with Memphis. Jaren's shot-blocking and potentially elite interior defense would be the perfect pairing with KAT and I also see Jaren as a potential star. We're not going to get a proven star for Butler, so the next best thing would be getting a potential star. This might be the least realistic of my four possible deals, but I suspect that the Grizzlies' front office has a win-now mindset eager to take one last shot over the next couple years with Gasol and Conley before they're well beyond their prime. Imagine a backcourt of Conley and Butler playing with a front court of Gasol, JaMychal Green and Kyle Anderson with MarSon Brooks, Omari Casspi, Shelvin Mack, Garrett Temple and Ivan Rabb off the bench. That's a team with a good chance of finishing in the top four under the Grizzlies excellent head coach.

My next choice would be Waiters/Adebayo/Winslow deal. The prize in this deal would be Adebayo. I don't think he has Jaren Jackson's upside, but he still has a huge upside and the potential to get an all-star caliber two-way big. I also like Winslow as a terrific rebounding, defensive-minded SF. I'm not a fan of Waiters, but he'd have to be part of the package, even though I'd push to get Richardson instead.

As much as I don't like Whiteside or his contract, I'd do that deal to get Richardson and the pick while hoping that Whiteside would rise to the occasion and be a shot-blocking defensive force in the paint for his two years here or longer. The Covington deal would be my last choice. I like Covington, but don't love him. I think Richardson will ultimately be a better player than Covington. And the picks wouldn't be anywhere close to the lottery. But it might be the best we can do.

Lip, potential stars are more valuable then prove stars in most situations like this. Highly doubtful Jackson would be considered. And think pairing Kat with another big is the wrong idea. Surround him with versatile shooters.

Duke13 wrote:Lip, potential stars are more valuable then prove stars in most situations like this. Highly doubtful Jackson would be considered. And think pairing Kat with another big is the wrong idea. Surround him with versatile shooters.

I agree with you on the value of potential stars relative to proven stars as a general matter. I'm just speculating that the Grizzlies are in a position where they'd put a higher value on a proven star. Just a hunch on my part.

One of the great things about KAT is that his versatility. That versatility allows the Wolves to take different approaches on what types of players to pair him with. One approach, as you suggest, is to surround him with versatile shooters. That strikes me as the best approach. But I think it would be almost as good to pair him with a great shot-blocking defensive big, which would free up KAT to take better advantage of his three-point shooting prowess and his overall skill set, which we saw on display when he won the allstar skills competition two years ago. For example, I'd love to pair him with Rudy Gobert. Had the Wolves picked Gobert instead of selling their pick a few years back, we might actually have that pairing now.