1st rounder -> check Young veteran -> check (Gordon...who would fil the void left by Butler, same spot, not so different as a player overall...) Knight can be traded even now by himself, just not alongside other players.
[...] Perhaps the most glaring issue to consider is the amount of time Butler has played over the past five seasons: an NBA-high 37.6 minutes per game in that span1 and 26 games in which he logged at least 45 minutes since 2013-14 — 11 games more than the next player on the list, per Basketball-Reference.com. Butler is racking up mileage NBA leaders in number of 45-minute games since the 2013-14 season, along with their average minutes per game* PLAYER MINUTES PER GAME NUMBER OF 45 MIN. GAMES Jimmy Butler 37.6 26 LeBron James 36.8 15 Anthony Davis 35.9 13 James Harden 37.0 11 Bradley Beal 34.3 10 *Regular season only All of that could factor into how someone like Butler — who relies mostly on his physicality instead of his jump shot — ages as a player. But last season alone was less than ideal from a health standpoint. After ranking at the top of the minutes per game leaderboard in late February, Butler went down with a right knee injury that required surgery. And while injuries are often an unpredictable thing, Butler’s wasn’t the biggest shock in the world. He had missed four games in January with a sore right knee that might have required an MRI, and then Butler took the unusual step of sitting out the All-Star game the following month, citing a need for rest. Five days later, he was hurt to the point that he required the procedure on his meniscus. Butler takes on grueling tasks as someone who’s often the primary ball-handler — particularly in the clutch, where his aggressive style drew more free-throw trips than any player — and who guards the other team’s best scorer. And the potential for injuries to slow a player down as he reaches his 30s should give any club pause before sinking assets into a deal for him — let alone signing him to a max extension worth five years and $190 million in 2019, when he’s due to become a free agent. Zooming all the way out for a moment, let’s be clear: Butler is absolutely worth a sizable gamble from merely a talent perspective. His coach, Tom Thibodeau — who thinks so highly of Butler that he reportedly asked him on Monday to reconsider his trade request — called the swingman a “top-10 player in the league.” With Butler, the Wolves were arguably a top-three team in the NBA, outscoring opponents by more than 8 points per 100 possessions;2 without him, the club had the profile of a bottom-10 squad, hemorrhaging nearly 5 points per 100 possessions. Not many stars, or even superstars, possess that kind of game-changing impact. Still, there’s a pretty compelling case to be made that Butler simply doesn’t make sense on certain clubs — particularly young, developing ones, with whom he might lack patience. He frustrated younger teammates in Chicago two seasons ago when he questioned whether they cared as much as he did about winning, a critique that led to coach Fred Hoiberg benching him to start a game. Then this past year in Minnesota, reports suggested that Butler didn’t always see eye-to-eye with young star Karl-Anthony Towns. (Towns finally agreed to his five-year, $190 million extension in the wake of Butler’s trade request, which lent credence to the report. But Towns on Monday chalked it up to “awkward” timing and coincidence, saying the issues were unrelated.) Taking that into account, a young team like the Nets or the Kings — still in the developmental phases — wouldn’t seem to be ideal for Butler. The other thing worth considering with Butler, especially in Houston, Philadelphia or Portland, is how he’d fit alongside another ball-dominant guard. That experiment didn’t play out all that well when the Bulls had both Butler and Derrick Rose sharing the backcourt, and reports bubbled to the surface about there being a bit of a power struggle because of the lack of clarity in their roles. There’d be no such question with the Clippers or Heat. And the Pistons and Blazers desperately need talent upgrades to enhance their standing in their respective conferences — something that’s especially true of Portland, even if there would be questions about Butler’s fit with Damian Lillard. Few NBA players can impact a game the way Butler can. But given what we know about the talented guard, only a few teams would be smart to move heaven and earth to trade for him right now.
Granted by the City of Houston and its citizens. But also because it's a one year veterans deal so he can veto any trade.
Honestly , I'm starting to have second thoughts about even trading Gordon for jimmy . I think Eric takes a step forward in consistency this season . Also E.G. Is a hell of a guard defender . Plus finances are a real concern , if we traded for butler..... I don't think we can keep him . I'd like to see what we have before making any more moves
Taylor is directly involved in the process and fielding offers from teams. It doesn't matter what Thibs wants. He's not in control and this thing gets done this week. Actually, he's in denial according to the discussion with Taj. He still thinks he can put the **** back in the horse and just get to the season. He knew he was done but he thought he would have another playoff team on his resume to resell his wares with the worst case having to move Butler at the deadline. He didn't even care if Butler left in FA because he was done as well. This is like the Bron/Kyrie situation.
That was my original offer. They can say whatever they want but I know that owner wants to move Dieng. The Wolves have been crappy for quite a while. He wants to have his developed and paid stars, stay under the tax, and be competitive. They're a perennial middle of the pack team.
Nah...... Butler is a vastly superior player and can play multiple positions and can play high minutes. Eric Gordon isn't an elite player or even an all star player. He is a really good bench player and nothing more.
You have seen the best of Eric Gordon. Good health and good production. Odds are better that he gets hurt and falls back to Earth than he maintains. This is a sell high opportunity.
I agree that this is the normal take ; a few things of concern . 1) Butlers high minutes and recent injury .... could he be breaking down sooner than expected 2) e.g. Used to be considered a star before injury problems. He has been relatively injury free , he just has a different role now with less opportunity to pad stats . Also I think his defense is really underrated . 3) there is always a risk in changing players , usually you don't worry about that too much because you think you are getting way more talent or a better fit . With butler I think the fit is worse and the talent edge is slight .
Not just that, he wasn't always a good defender last season. He has long periods of the season where his defense was suspect to bad. There were points in the season where he defended well, but that isn't how he played all season. Defensively there is no real comparison between Butler and Gordon. Outside of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Butler is arguably the pest perimeter defender in the NBA.
Sure, Butler could break down physically. He barely played his first two seasons in the league, and likely would play 30 minutes a game in Houston but he could start to break down like Deng. At Eric Gordon's very best, he was half the player that Jimmy Butler is. Defensively it isn't close, Butler is one of the top 4-5 perimeter defenders in the league. I cannot agree with Butler only having a slight talent edge. Butler is a far better player, he would help the defense a great deal, he is able to draw fouls at an elite rate and create. Further, Butler is well over 40% on open 3's.... which is what he would get in Houston. Butler also comes to play every single game he is out there.
