Are the Cavs monitoring the Jimmy Butler situation?

Could the Cleveland Cavaliers end up with Jimmy Butler or Karl Anthony-Towns?

With the news that Minnesota Timberwolves president and head coach Tom Thibodeau and All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler would be holding a meeting about the state of the franchise and his future in it, there are certainly a number of teams that are monitoring the situation to see what ultimatums Thibodeau may be given. The Cleveland Cavaliers should be one of those teams.

Per Stadium’s Shams Charania:

Given Butler’s desire to be on a strong team and his age (29-years-old), the Cavaliers may not have certainty that Butler would remain with the team and, in a contract year, that could make all the difference to the front office.

LeBron James’ decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers was less than three months ago and the wounds are still fresh. Not just in terms of a roster gashed by the departure of the best player in the NBA but in terms of the mental and emotional strain that was apparent throughout almost all of last season.

Team owner Dan Gilbert and general manager Koby Altman are the major decision-makers for this crew and after last year’s whirlwind of a season, with everyone holding fast to their seats as injuries, drama and insecurities plagued the roster, they may not be ready to invest heavily in a player that could leave them in one season.

The biggest reason to have an interest in Butler is obvious. He’s one of the best two-way players in the entire league, capable of hounding elite playmakers with dogged defense and pouring in baskets all in the same game.

Per Basketball Reference, he’s averaged 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.8 steals and just 1.8 turnovers per game over the last four seasons (all All-Star years for Butler) with a true shooting percentage of 58.0. Those numbers aren’t quite LeBron-like — who seems to put up 25-8-8 with relative ease — but they’re better than what you can realistically expect from Cedi Osman, LeBron’s presumed replacement at small forward.

Another reason is the possibility that he could convince superstar point guard Kyrie Irving to return to the Cavs amidst a report from Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the two friends were interested in teaming up.

Looking at Butler’s salary for the upcoming season ($18.7 million, per Spotrac), there are only a few options for completing a trade for a player with his talent.

Moving Collin Sexton in a package with J.R. Smith is a possibility but Sexton is in Cleveland to usher in a new era and will be under team control for five seasons. It’s just not a safe move for the team.

Moving Kevin Love is an option too but there’s a question of how much the Timberwolves would want Love to be paired with star center Karl Anthony-Towns, as neither have consistently been effective defenders at the NBA level.

(The same reason the Cavs would hesitate to take KAT back in a trade unless it involved Love.)

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Then there’s the option of moving Rodney Hood, who would have to waive his no-trade clause and be sent in a package with a player like George Hill.

The Cavs theoretically couldn’t trade a first-round that would help Thibodeau’s team next season either, as they only keep their first-round pick next year if they have one of the worst ten win-loss records in the league. With Butler joining the group, no matter which of Sexton, Love and Hood are traded, the wouldn’t have that pick.

As I alluded to earlier, the Cavs could also acquire Towns in this scenario, if there’s truly a stand-off between he and Butler.

Love had been an impressive leader early in the post-LeBron years but he’s not a good enough defensive fit with KAT to make them a desirable pair. Thus, he’s the only player the Cavs should have to trade for Towns.

Taking on one of their less desirable contracts, like center Gorgui Dieng (he’ll earn $48.5 million over the next three seasons), could be enticing enough for the Wolves to bite.

Adding a first-round pick may be unnecessary but if needed, would be possible. KAT is seven years younger than Love and just as talented, if not better.

All that said, the Cavs would have one of the youngest starting lineups in the league if Love is traded and that inexperience could very well lead to them receiving a top-10 pick in next year’s draft.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have to be made monitoring the Jimmy Butler situation. There are too many possibilities for them not to.