The Cleveland Cavaliers are still heavily involved in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes, and that’s not smart, especially considering a deal would likely include Collin Sexton.
The Cleveland Cavaliers need to let the next few months play out before making any in irrational decisions related to their future. As our own Quenton Albertie demonstrated, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavaliers are very much in the running to land Jimmy Butler, who has expressed his displeasure with his current team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in recent days.
It was initially reported by Wojnarowski that Butler gave Minnesota three destinations he would like to be traded to, and those three were the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. However, it’s not going to be easy for anybody right now to land the disgruntled Timberwolves’ star. Minnesota is going to want a big-time haul, and no team has ran to the center of the room yet wanting to give up a number of first-round picks, for example.
The Miami Heat have most recently become Butler’s number one trade destination, per the New York Times’ Marc Stein, but “Minnesota’s counter was a non-starter for Heat president Pat Riley, league sources said,” per Wojnarowski.
This situation appears far from over when it comes to Butler and Timberwolves’ upper management.
He is a player that is supremely talented on both ends of the floor, as he averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game last year. He also had a PER of 23.7 and a true shooting rate of 59.0 percent, per Basketball Reference. Butler, in my opinion, is a Top 15 or so player in the Association; he is a player who can carry a team offensively with his all-around scoring acumen and he’s one of the most versatile defenders in the league.
In a vacuum, and without taking team chemistry into account, trading for Butler makes perfect sense. Ahhhhhh, that’s the problem.
Butler is not a player who is going to be fitting in seamlessly anywhere, and with the Cavaliers playing young pieces a lot this season, Butler is not going to fit in well. Although he’s a very good cutter and has progressed in his corner three efficiency, he still is going to need the ball in his hands on virtually every possession. That would stunt the growth of Cleveland’s young playmakers such as Rodney Hood and Cedi Osman, and Love wouldn’t get as many mid-post looks.
In addition, Butler is not a leader, as Ryan Piers of Hoops Habit displayed in a recent article. Based on the situation in Minnesota now and an incident involving Dwyane Wade and Butler gossiping to the media and creating a rift among their teammates in his last year on the Chicago Bulls, it’s clear that Butler is not going to be a 100% team guy.
Now to the logistics of a Cavs trade.
The aforementioned Albertie broke down how he would forecast a trade between the Cavs and Minnesota playing out, citing how Cleveland’s best assets can’t be dealt for a while.
"“They can’t trade their best player in Kevin Love, a five-time All-Star who is an elite shooter and rebounder in the frontcourt, until January 23rd. The Cleveland Cavaliers can’t trade Rodney Hood, who Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue sees as the second option behind Love, until December 15th.That leaves rookie point guard Collin Sexton, the 8th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, as the most talented player that they have left on the roster.”"
Albertie would then go on to mention Kyle Korver as an additional trade piece to the Timberwolves to go with Sexton due to his shooting ability. He then noted how a potential 2019 first-round pick (of which Cleveland could make conditional based on it needing to be top 10) could sweeten the pot for Minny, and he touched on how J.R. Smith could be included in the deal as being dealt to a team like the Sacramento Kings for a draft pick.
"“With $9 million left to exchange and teams like the Sacramento Kings willing to absorb bloated contracts as a third team in a potential deal, likely for draft picks, Cleveland could also send shooting guard J.R. Smith to the Western Conference.”"
Lastly, Albertie speculated Minnesota possibly including Gorgui Dieng’s contract in the deal as well, and in turn, the Cavaliers would have to send away Tristan Thompson.
I completely understand the appeal of the Cavs wanting to get a proven commodity in Butler; he’s that second 20-plus point guy to go with Love. The Cavaliers also aren’t suddenly going to have a ton of plus defenders, either as currently constructed, and Butler is never going to back down from a challenge on that end.
It’s a huge reason for Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau’s love for him.
Nonetheless, I don’t love Butler’s recent track record off the floor in Chicago and now in Minny, and Sexton looks like a crucial piece going forward in Cleveland. He’s 19, he’s ridiculously fast, and Lue seems to be really impressed with the rook so far in training camp, which is nothing to sneeze at.
The Cavs could have a really solid young perimeter of Sexton-Hood-Osman in the near future, and those players aren’t going to bring issues off the floor. Cleveland was not on Butler’s list of trade destinations (and it probably won’t be any time soon), so what’s the point?
The Cavaliers, even with Butler, would have a world of trouble winning a postseason series this year, and then what? Butler probably walks, and the Cavs would have to start over with less, and they wouldn’t have their first-round pick next season, so there wouldn’t be a realistic Sexton replacement walking through the door any time soon at a reasonable rate.
Sexton, on the other hand, would probably end up as one of the Timberwolves’ key pieces moving forward as their future at point guard.
If Cleveland is going to make trades, they need to not swing at one-year rental possibilities.