5. Jimmy Butler
You can call Jimmy Butler a lot of things, but this dude literally went from being homeless to a maximum level player in the NBA.
That can never be taken away from him. He achieved that, and it’s remarkable.
He might not get a long contract this summer after the way things played out over the last couple seasons; however, he’s still going to make a boatload of money. Multiple teams will be interested in his services once they miss out on the top-tier stars, and Butler’s agent will be more than happy to take their call. The Los Angeles Lakers could be an intriguing fit for him, but they might go after point guards like Kemba Walker or Kyrie Irving first.
Butler could also end up staying with the Philadelphia 76ers. That doesn’t seem incredibly likely at this point, but you can never predict what happens in that particular NBA team’s soap opera story.
We’ll have to just observe what happens.
Rockets GM Morey is trying to get Butler in a sign-and-trade deal which would allow the 76ers to actually get something in return instead of losing him for nothing. It’s an aggressive move by Morey, but it feels a little desperate too.
The market for small forwards will become frantic once the top two players on this list aren’t available, though, and that’s when things will get even more chaotic. Butler will reap the benefits of a team scrambling to prove that it actually improved during the offseason.