It would be good business, IMO. It would help both teams and that is what trades are supposed to do help both teams. There shouldn’t be a “winner” in a trade. When there is a “winner” someone didn’t do their job. The goal is not to hurt others but help them by helping yourself. They need leadership and a Thibs approval on the player. We need a championship or a changeover. Harden needs help and he can’t do it all himself. I view Paul as a better player than Butler but I don’t know for how long. I also value Teague as a role player, too. This transaction helps both teams short and long term. I would do the trade today but Paul signing makes us have to wait.
haha, KAT trying to make General Soreness flare up ... big man shirking his duty to get the FTs and pass them in bounds. Towns lost that game, too.
If I was butler I honestly would be out with soreness also. Thibs is playing this dude over 40 minutes every game he plays. He played 43 last night. Thibs, while always plays his players high high minutes, seems to be trying to punish butlers body and get every single bit of use he can before dumping him. Pretty intolerable stuff
minny will get more desperate when close to the trade deadline. we may get him for a bag of chips on Feb.07
We will never get him for a bag of chips i think...in that kind of scenario i expect them to trade him for an Eastern conference bag of chips
43 minutes sounds insane. But I'll tell you what, I watched this game and watched Butler specifically the whole time. He is smart, just like LeBron. He "picks and chooses" when he goes 100%. He is efficient with his movements. He guarded LeBron exclusively and when LeBron would take a possession off, Butler got rest. I was surprised at how well Butler maximized his energy levels on the floor.
Ok, another spitballing attempt at a Butler trade. Wolves goal is to achieve: 1) Assets (picks) 2) Get a useable player(s) to help Thibs and the team. 3) Move Dieng's "3 year" contract. Can they do ALL THREE of those goals? It is easier to do 2 of them. But all 3 is tough. Here is my attempt. And it is a FOUR TEAM trade. HOUSTON - Gets Butler. Trades out Knight, Chriss, 4 first round picks. The assets the Rockets were willing to move. They KEEP Gordon and Tucker. MINNESOTA - Trades Butler. Trades Dieng. Gets Courtney Lee (2yrs). Gets Knight (2years), Gets TWO HOU First Round Picks. SACRAMENTO - Trades Iman Shumpert (expiring). Gets Dieng. Gets Chriss. Gets TWO HOU First Round picks. Basically they take on Dieng for 2 Firsts. NEW YORK - Trades Lee. Gets Shumpert. That is it. This is a salary dump to get cap room for FA in the summer. So, the key here is Minny gets COURTNEY LEE as a player substitute. Someone Thibs would like and is team controlled for 2 years. They ONLY get 2 FIRSTS since they ALSO get off Dieng's 3rd year. If they want to get 3 FIRSTS they have to keep Dieng. Can't have BOTH. Is Lee some stud like Josh Richardson and Eric Gordon? No. But you get a defensive/shooter that FITS Minny's system. AND you get ASSETS (picks) AND you get Dieng off the books. To do ALL of those, you have to compromise some. And that compromise is the "ceiling" of the incoming player. Motivations - This can be tough. We know why Houston and Minnesota are motivated. But how about NY and Sacramento? Well, Sacramento getting TWO Firsts might be one of the best offers they could get in moving out Shumpert and taking on Dieng. Something they might jump at. For NY, being able to get off Lee for Shumpert might be something they would jump at. Cap room is important. NY probably won't be able to get a "positive asset" for Lee at the deadline, so the next best thing is moving forward with cap room. Anyway, just an idea to kick around. It is not too far off from @Nook's suggestion with getting Atlanta involved in a 3 team and sending Bazemore to Minny to satisfy the Thibs needs a player part.
Anyone that can only muster up a 13/9 statline on 5/16 shooting against JeVale McGee WHILE also making max money should inbounds the ball every possession. He's not even the 2nd best player on that team right now.
Did KAT stink it up int he second half? I was watching the first half and he seemed to do ok. Kuzma was guarding him and he took it inside and scored with ease. What happened did he just start taking outside shots or something? Thats something I do respect Butler for. He never backs down or is shy about guarding the other teams best player. He is smart to pick his spots right now with that Minny team.
Thumbs up @Deuce for the idea, i actually think the Knicks would even throw in a 2nd rounder to swap Lee with an expiring...where i remain doubtful is in a couple of points, i'm not sure the Wolves consider Lee enough at this point, but aside for this, the biggest problem i still see here is about the picks we would send out, who gets the 2019 and 2021? Are the last two unprotected? Cause i don't see the Wolves trade Butler for two picks in 2023 and 2025 if those picks aren't unprotected even if that means they can dump Dieng now. And same for the Kings, i don't see them taking back Dieng if the picks they would get are 2023/2025 and protected. I guess they could still mix them up though, like 2019 and 2023 to one team and 2021/2025 to the other, this might be better.
I didn't watch the game but from the boxscore: 1st half - 5 on 7 shooting with 2 to and 1 foul 2nd half - 0 on 9 shooting with 4 to and 3/4 fouls
