If Jimmy demands a trade the teams willing to give up something significant for him should be: Houston. Lakers. Raptors. Celtics. Philly. Thunder. Pelicans. Blazers. Wizards. He could probably elevate teams like Utah, Denver, Indiana into a higher tier but I think those teams are very comfortable with the direction they’re headed and would prefer to keep their young pieces. Golden State won’t trade anyone worthy. I’m pretty sure the rest of the teams in the league would have little interest in rolling the dice with a trade. The Lakers’ incentive would be to pair another star with Lebron but since their roster are either young players they weren’t willing to surrender for a star they can pursue next summer or players they can’t trade until December, they’re out of the convo for now. Celtics’ main incentive would be because he’s tight with Kyrie, which could mean they both re-sign. I don’t see them willing to part with Brown or Tatum for him though, in which case they probably don’t see enough minutes for him even if they can snag him with picks and filler. Philly. They’d look to add a star. Their package would have to be picks and filler. Pelicans. Help keep AD happy? They’d have to get him without losing anyone important so best part of their package would have to be their pick. Blazers. Same as Pelicans. They want to add to their team, not replace. So since they won’t part with CJ or Dame their best asset is their pick. Wizards. I have no idea how this team would approach this. Not that they can’t, just don’t know where the front office’s heads at. Thunder. Scott Brooks will pretty much get rid of anyone besides Westbrook and PG13. Andre and Adams ages both suit Twolves’ team. Not the most ideal fit. They could also get a player like Huestis, Abrines or a draft pick. Raptors. I think they’d be the favourites. Makes most sense. Jimmy and Kawhi may end up leading to each other staying in Toronto. Or they come off the books at the same time. Raps have assets like OG and Siakam, couple other young names. Houston. After making that list it’s not as far off as I thought with a package revolving around EG. It’ll come down to what Minnesota really wants. A player that is in his prime and ready to contribute but will only be good for another 2 years, or assets to continue building your team with and mid first round to late lottery picks.
You wrote all that while I was typing mine. Haha. We’re close to being on the same page. Only I think the Raps makes sense
This is the biggest point wrt the Lakers. Out of the primary players for Butler, Lakers (just like with Kawhi) don't need to give up anything...since they have the cap-space. Teams with capspace are not the teams who trade for rentals. Second point not getting enough attention. This is a cyberx thread. He's a Lakers fan. He isn't saying anything about LA pursuing Butler.
“It was Houston everything for me,” said Butler, who grew up in Tomball, roughly 30 miles from Houston’s city center. “Whatever sport I was in love with at the time, I wanted to be playing for the Houston Rockets, Houston Astros, Houston Texans. I was Houston to the death.”
