Woj on Sportscenter "Rockets are recruiting Jimmy Butler hard and might have a deal with him"

1) Costs him about $12 million over 5 years
2) Has to trust Tilman (this may be where the "Tilman publicly griped about CP3 extension" story hurts)
3) Has to really believe that if he gets hurt the Rockets will still take care of him. If he blows an achilles, would they? I say no.

He's been angling for this max deal for 3 years. He's been traded twice because of teams not wanting to give him the full max. Lowe reported he doesn't want to bypass the max.

 

I wish Morey would put this much energy into facilitating a trade to bring in other good players instead of focusing entirely on Butler. More than likely, Butler ends up somewhere else and we end up with nothing, once again, while all the other good free agents and potential trade scenarios evaporate into thin air

 

M

More importantly - their “death” lineup is PJ Tucker at center against most teams. I think Morey will concede against the the Embids of the world - as long as his defender isn’t giving him a bunch of and 1s.

...that being said - I’m kind of scared about Tucker being so important to this team at his age but I guess if you got CP, you go ahead and roll the dice anyway.

 

go after the hot girl 1st before settling for the big girls with acne

 

You would be a fool if you think that he doesn't have multiple backup plans. He did say that there are quite a few stars available.

 

What makes you think Morey is only working one trade?

I bet at this time he has about 10-15 other players lined up including the pick of the free agents

 

Butler is the only clear difference maker that we have a shot with. No sense in making small moves and hoping for the best -

 

If the Rockets and Butler want to unite, Morey and Paul and Harden need to do everything possible to get him to pick up his option with an understanding they will give him the max a year later. That would allow the Rockets to hypothetically keep Capela and send Gordon, Nene and multiple picks to the Sixers. The Rockets could then keep Capela or spin him off in another deal for someone like Covington or another player.

 

not sure if this was shared yet, but just in case

@Rockets_Insider -- @sam_amick says Jimmy Butler is the #Rockets ”dream addition” and are “confident in their ability” to free up cap space or land him in sign and trade if he chooses HOU. He also mentions Danny Green, Brook Lopez & Kevon Looney among others as FA targets.

lopez or kevin looney would be amazing

 

It is interesting he hasn't officially opted out yet. As far as I know anyway.

 

I don’t think Butler ends up in Houston either based on some things I have been told.... but Nate Duncan isn’t as smart as he seems to think he is.

 

Nice analysis. Yes, I think the Rockets would try to utilize the Non-Taxpayer MLE to sign multiple players if they were already hard-capped, but they would be limited as to how much of it they can actually use. Unfortunately, two-way contracts would not count towards the minimum 14 NBA roster spots required, so you've got to add back another $3.2 million+ there. We could see some "roster juggling" like we saw down the stretch last season.

Bottom line: To fill out a 14-man roster that already contains Harden, Paul, Butler and Tucker, and assuming that Nene retires (or his salary is dumped), the Rockets will only have about $6 million to spend above vet minimum deals. That amount could possibly go up a little bit if there is some fancy roster juggling.

 

super agree!! its a desperate move by the rockets and a complete over reaction

 

That is the downside of it and no question it is a risk. A lot of it also depends on who you target with the MLE. Do they know someone that would come that we don’t? Is there a player or two they know they can get at the minimum that are playable?

I agree it is a real risk, but I think it is one they hypothetically have to take.

 

What about Kevin Love as plan B

 

What’s with all the negativity?

 

I respectfully disagree, if there's a legit chance to grab Butler you push your chips forward. I understand your POV but the West is about to get crazy. Utah came up. The Clippers are coming up. The Lakers etc. Butler keeps us in the top tier. I believe KD stays in Oakland and Kawhi goes to LA

 

Oh yeah
The guy who fell asleep on his phone after the trade deadline one year has ONLY been focussing on Butler... lol.

Cmon man. Think.

 

Butler already turned down $247,000,000 from the Bulls. Supposedly he asked the Wolves for $175,000,000. The Sixers can offer $190,000,000 and I know reports say they will... but that is a lot of money for a team with So many potential high contracts.

Bernie Lee is the one who wants Butler to sign the max, he wants his commission and has limited clients.

 

They have talked about him, he is just a bigger risk.