5 best landing spots for Jimmy Butler if he leaves the Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 23: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves talks to the media after the game against the Houston Rockets in Game Four of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 23, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

2 of 5

Mandatory Credit: Chris Elise-Getty Images /

4. Los Angeles Lakers

As the Lakers look to surround LeBron James with talent, adding another star has to be on the horizon. Efforts to make a trade for Leonard have apparently not impressed the San Antonio Spurs to this point, ahead of his own ability to opt-out after next season, and Paul George surprised by staying put in Oklahoma City without even meeting with the Lakers. So a shift toward Butler could come, one way or another.

A spin through ESPN’s Trade Machine, with a h/t to 1500 ESPN’s Phil Mackey before I did it myself to confirm it works, shows a trade that would work between the Timberwolves and the Lakers involving Butler.

The Lakers Get: Jimmy Butler
The Timberwolves Get: Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Luol Deng and let’s throw in a future first-round pick that the trade machine doesn’t make possible.

Deng’s inclusion in the deal is only to make the money work, though his past tie to Thibodeau with the Bulls could be noted. The Timberwolves get two promising young players in Kuzma and Ingram in exchange for taking that bad contract off the Lakers’ hands, ahey also shed the tension Butler seems intent on fostering for a franchise that can seemingly never escape some sort of turmoil.

Butler could also just play out the 2018-19 season, opt out and rather than team up with Irving do so with James in Los Angeles.

Home/Minnesota Timberwolves