By all accounts, things have fallen stagnant on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ attempts to trade Jimmy Butler. Following things falling through between Minnesota and the Miami Heat, the rumor was that the trade market for the All-Star guard was non-existent, partly because the Timberwolves’ asking price for Butler was breathtakingly high.
The Houston Rockets were viewed as a team that could make a big move, as general manager Daryl Morey is known for his desire to do whatever it takes to acquire stars and, if all goes right, win a championship. While the team apparently didn’t want to part ways with both Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker in their pursuit of Butler, a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN indicates they might go in a different direction.
According to Wojnarowski, the Rockets have tried to get talks going again, offering an astounding four future first-round NBA Draft picks in exchange for Butler.
Story posting soon: The Houston Rockets are making a renewed bid to acquire Minnesota All-Star Jimmy Butler, including four future first-round draft picks in their most recent trade offer, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 25, 2018
Albert Nahmad added some context as to how this deal could happen with regards to draft picks moving, while Zach Lowe of ESPN included an important note about why it might be in everyone’s best interest to wait another week or so before any deal goes down.
Rockets offering 4 first-round picks to acquire Jimmy Butler would be every single one they could legally offer… Only way to truly offer all 4, and have them all be guaranteed to convey, would be if they’re all unprotected, in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025.https://t.co/lEJsfDPYla
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) October 25, 2018
Note going into the story — Oct. 31 could be a key date here, league sources say. That's the 2-month anniversary of the Chriss/Knight trade, meaning HOU would be free to aggregate them into larger trades. https://t.co/1rUUr1aGn2
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 25, 2018
We’ve seen teams mortgage their future in an attempt to win now. The most notable recent example of this came when the Brooklyn Nets gave up a trio of first-round picks (along with a potential first-round pick swap that ended up happening) to acquire Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics. This, apparently, goes even further in terms of picks moving, although that deal featured nine total players moving, too. Some players would have to move here to make this move work financially, but in terms of the framework of the deal — four future first-round picks for Butler — this might be the best long-term move that the Timberwolves can get back.
