Minnesota Sports Forum

Marc Stein ?@ESPNSteinLine 29m29 minutes ago

Story going online now with @chadfordinsider: Wolves making No. 5 overall pick available in hopes of tempting Bulls into Jimmy Butler trade
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are prepared to part with the No. 5 overall pick in this month's draft, as the centerpiece of a trade package, if they can use it to construct a deal for Chicago Bulls star swingman Jimmy Butler, according to league sources.

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.

The Bulls are not believed to be actively looking to move their All-Star swingman ?but have been listening to pitches for Butler, sources said. Butler initially rose to prominence as a two-way force playing for Thibodeau, the Wolves' new coach and president.

Sources say that the Bulls naturally would demand a significant amount in return to part with Butler, which likely translates to at least one front-line player in addition to a top lottery pick this month.
Jimmy Butler rose to prominence while playing for then-Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who is now the coach and president of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The Boston Celtics, who hold the No 3 overall pick, are also known to have trade interest in Butler, while sources say that the Bulls are highly intrigued by Providence guard Kris Dunn, who is projected to be selected in the 3-to-5 range in the June 23 draft.

The No. 5 pick alone clearly wouldn't be sufficient to pry Butler from the Bulls, but Minnesota's own cache of trade assets -- given the various up-and-coming players on its roster -- would theoretically enable the Wolves to either deal with Chicago directly or assemble a multi-team trade scenario.

Signals from the Bulls and their Butler intentions, meanwhile, have been mixed. The club asked Butler to represent them on the dais at the May 17 draft lottery, but Bulls general manager Gar Forman -- after Chicago missed the playoffs -- did say shortly after the regular season ended that "we have to explore all options" when directly asked about Butler's future as a franchise cornerstone.

Butler signed a five-year deal worth in excess of $90 million last summer shortly after winning NBA Most Improved Player honors for the 2014-15 season.

Well, I'm torn.

I would hate to see Wiggins or Zach get moved for Butler. But if we were able to snag him for 5+ Gorgui+ Bazz? Yeah that would be cool.

Q and others have made valid arguments that Butler and Wiggins would sort of result in a redundancy that gives me pause while considering Butler on the Wolves.

I doubt that this goes through however given what a nasty divorce the Bulls and Thibs had. I don't see the Bulls actively aiding Thibs with his new job.

I'm torn on this one as well. I think it would take Zack and the #5 to get the deal done. Butler is a great player imo, but I wouldn't do that. Let's assume we could get Dunn, he seems to be the guy who most are rumored to be trading up to get. You are giving up a back court of Dunn and Lavine, Dunn has the potential to be the perimeter defender Butler is. Then let's say Dunn performs as hoped, after a year you potentially have a valuable trade chip with Rubio.
Butler has a bit of a injury history. I personally see our championship window starting 3-4 years from now, when Bulter would be near the end of his deal. Idk, it's a tough one. I hate going "all-in" this early.

I don't want to pay a ransom for Butler which is what Chicago will want. I like the direction we are headed without Butler. This is actually my fear with Thibs is that he tries to reassemble his Bulls in Minnesota. We have a younger core and I don't want to break up the core at this stage. I value all our starters and the 5 pick.

Chicago will want 5 and at least two of Lavine, Ricky and Dieng. This is not the direction we should go.

I listened to the Bulls' beat writer discuss a deal for Butler a couple weeks ago on Barreiro. He kind of scoffed when Dan suggested Lavine plus #5, saying the Bulls brass isn't very high on Zach. I'm guessing the bidding starts at Wig plus #5, and that the Bulls don't go much lower...if at all.

This trade has 0% chance of happening. In my view, that's a good thing.

Click bait

Once again a couple people are reporting it would take #5 and Wiggins to get Butler. Sure I'm sure Thibs told them if they were wanting to deal Butler he would be interested as would a majority of the league. Lol I highly doubt it went beyond that.

I have no problem with Thibs wanting Butler and offering #5 plus Zach...Butler is one of the four best 2-way wings in the league, and still young. Why not make an offer? But as others here are saying, that's not enough to get the deal done. Chicago doesn't have to deal Butler and will have a lot of interested parties. They're not going to let him go without getting exactly what they want.