NBA Rumors: Jimmy Butler not looking for max offer
By Josh Hill
Jimmy Butler played his way into a max contract this season — but he’s not going to be signing one until next year.
The Chicago Bulls knew that Jimmy Butler was going to be a big piece of the team this season, but no one knew we’d see Butler blossom into a superstar of the future.
That was the case this past season, and it caused Butler’s stock to go through the roof and slam into the ceiling that that CBA allows for player contracts. Butler is a restricted free agent this summer and he’s going to be getting offer sheets from just about everyone. The number of teams who could and probably will offer Butler a contract was already on the high end up Butler has opened up a new lane for more teams.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the rising salary cap is the main motivation behind Butler not wanting to lock himself into a deal that could be larger in a few years time.
"As the NBA’s salary cap is set to dramatically rise beginning with the 2016-17 season, Butler has become far less interested in locking himself into the five-year, $90 million-plus deal the Bulls are expected to present him on July 1, league sources said."
If Butler signs a max offer — with anyone — this summer, he’ll be maxed out under the current cap rules. If he waits until next summer to sign his max offer, he’ll be making money hand over fist compared to what he’d get now.
It’s a risky move, but Butler has played the market once and won — so what’s another go at it. He rejected a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls this past October and played out the final year of his rookie deal in a way no one expected. We all knew Butler would take leaps forward in 2014-15 but he turned into an All-Star who the Bulls might lean on as the face of the future with Derrick Rose’s health a giant question mark.
None of this has anything to do with the Bulls, it’s all about the market. Whether it’s the Bulls, Lakers, Knicks or whoever it may be, Butler won’t be signing a max contract until the salary cap explodes next year and he may not end up being the only player to go this route.