When the Minnesota Timberwolves made the bombshell announcement earlier this month that All-Star guard Jimmy Butler had requested a trade, there were reportedly three teams at the top of his list of possible destinations: the Knicks, the Lakers, and the Clippers.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before half the league joined the fray, with organizations like the Sixers, Heat, and Rockets emerging in recent days as sleeper candidates for the Butler sweepstakes. Philadelphia quickly learned that the asking price was too high (i.e. Ben Simmons) and have since bowed out entirely, while Houston remains the wildcard in this equation as they continue to methodically arrange what they believe to be their best offer.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat are in the hot seat. A report from earlier this week revealed that South Beach is Butler’s preferred destination, and the organization has been trying to put together a viable package ever since. Now, it appears they’ve settled on a final offer, although the details are still murky at this point.
Jimmy Butler update:
Multiple sources have told @5ReasonsSports & @FusaroESPN today that the Heat made what they deemed a "final offer" to the Wolves on Thursday morning & told the Wolves to sort out their situation…..
It is not clear if that has changed since….
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) September 28, 2018
Many believe coach and GM Tom Thibodeau has been purposefully setting the asking price too high so that he can stall and try to change Butler’s mind, so if the Heat have actually arrived at the type of offer that could move the needle, we could have a blockbuster on our hands.
The question, of course, is whether the Heat will have to gut their roster to get it done. If you really want to get into the weeds on this, be sure to check out our trade machine results for the various configurations that could land him in Miami, although a straight-up swap of Butler for Goran Dragic and maybe Justise Winslow or Josh Richardson, or both, might be the likeliest scenario.
Either way, keep your sights set on Miami this weekend, but don’t sleep on Houston sneaking in there at the 11th hour and coming away with a superstar trio that could change the complexion of the league for years to come.
