It's been a little quiet around the Jimmy Butler front now that media day has come and gone. After a week of soap opera-esque twists and turns last week, it feels a little weird to not have heard anything.
Well, Jimmy Butler might have been feeling the same thing, so this morning he decided to stir the pot a little bit to see if maybe he can expedite this process a little more.
After noticing that the Wolves are doing nothing to appease his desired list of landing spots which included the Clippers, Knicks and Nets, Butler apparently made a few phone calls to the people that are important to his decision and has landed on a new preferred landing spot, one that was not part of his original trio.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Butler and his agent have informed Minnesota that Jimmy has changed his mind and would prefer to take his talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat.
Now before you roll your eyes at yet another tone deaf, entitled professional athlete attempting to throw their weight around, comparatively speaking this might be a good thing when it comes to those who care about the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Prior to Jimmy sharing his interest in Miami the other teams that we had heard were poking around the All-Star guard included the Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings. Both of those teams and any other team not on Jimmy's original list of three would have entered those trade talks with the thought that Jimmy might only be a one year rent-a-player before he hit the free agent market and went somewhere he wanted next season. That brings the return value down for what the Wolves would get back in return.
With Jimmy now adding in his desire to go to Miami, he's essentially saying that he would have interest in signing a contract extension with the Heat as well making the acquisition WAY more valuable to the Heat.
On top of that, the Heat have some more valuable pieces they might be willing to part with compared to the other three teams mentioned. Rumored already are Hassan Whiteside and Josh Richardson. That's one of the more attractive established player combinations we've heard tossed about. On top of that, mix in some draft picks and that's better than the Clippers can offer.
Looking away from Miami again for a quick minute, anytime more teams substantially get into the mix a bidding war is afoot. Adding Miami into the teams that are interested can only help pin two teams against each other and land the Wolves slightly higher value from the highest bidder.
Minnesota fans are going to have to come to grips with the fact that you're not going to get back 100% fair value for Butler, he's a top 15 player, that'd be tough without his demands mixed in. That said, if the Kawhi Leonard trade to Toronto can teach us anything, you can still get something back in return even if the split is imminent.