Jimmy Butler Rumors: Latest free agency updates
The Chicago Bulls have offered Jimmy Butler the five-year max, but the guard may have something else in mind.
UPDATE [1:28pm ET]
The Bulls and Butler have reportedly agreed to a max contract extension that will pay the young star roughly $90 million on his next contract.
The Bulls and Jimmy Butler have agreed on a five-year, $90 million contract according to sources.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 1, 2015
UPDATE [11:56am ET]
There’s an increased feeling in Chicago circles that Butler will remain with the team. Tribune writer K.C. Thompson reports that the Bulls are willing to include a player option at either three or four years – effectively the middle-ground between a short and long-term deal.
Here's more optimism for why Butler verbal agreement could come today: Bulls open to player option. Should be either 3/1 or 4/1 max.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 1, 2015
Bulls used to be averse to player options but gave them to Gasol and Hinrich last summer.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 1, 2015
UPDATE [11:02]
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Butler is softening to the notion of signing a five-year deal with the Bulls worth $90 million. Earlier reports had Butler preferring to sign a short-term deal.
Hearing Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler is leaning strongly toward taking the five-year, $90 mil max Chicago offered as opposed to shorter deal
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2015
ORIGNAL STORY
The Chicago Bulls still fully intend to bring guard Jimmy Butler back for next season. The fact that Butler has already been offered a five-year max contract is evidence of that alone. However, Butler is looking for something else in NBA free agency this summer.
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According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, Butler doesn’t want to sign for the five-year max. Rather, Butler maintains that he would rather sign a short-term deal, a position that he’s held all along.
Butler still disinclined to signing 5-year max. Doesn't mean Butler won't be a Bull. Means his desire for shorter-team deal is real.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 1, 2015
Butler’s desire for a short-term deal stems from the jump in the salary cap next year. Like many free agents this summer, Butler wants to sign for one or two years with a possible player option on the deal. That way he can make more money under a rising salary cap.
However, the Bulls offering the max has Butler in a bit of a predicament. Under the CBA, the shortest deal Butler could sign with a team other than Chicago is three guaranteed years. Moreover, since the Bulls can match any offer from another team, they hold all of the leverage in terms of offering Butler a shorter deal – despite the front office’s desire is to lock him up long-term.
There seems to be no chance that Butler is playing anywhere other than Chicago next season, but there is an increasing likelihood, it seems, that Butler could take a calculated risk and not sign any deal this summer. Instead, he could take the $4.4 million qualifying offer and test the market as an unrestricted free agent next year when the cap has spiked – similar to what Greg Monroe elected to do last summer.
Either the Bulls or Butler are going to have to budge if a deal is going to be completed this summer. Seeing where all the leverage lies right now, Butler may have to swallow his desires and ultimately sign a long-term deal if he doesn’t want to risk taking the qualifying offer.
[H/T to SB Nation]