Minnesota Timberwolves Rumor: Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving?

Ladies and gentleman, your latest Minnesota Timberwolves rumor: the resurfacing of the Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving discussion. Get excited.

It was only a few weeks ago with Boston’s Kyrie Irving appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast and was clearly hesitant to even suggest that he may stay a Celtic after his contract expires in the summer of 2019.

The Irving-and-Butler-to-Brooklyn rumors began, as the good friends have reportedly discussed teaming up on a squad with enough cap space to accommodate both superstars. Irving is from New Jersey, of course, and the Nets somehow find themselves positioned fairly nicely for the future compared to the crosstown disaster that is the New York Knicks.

All of that is purely speculation of course, but now we have ESPN’s Jalen Rose and Brian Windhorst discussing the topic on The Sports Leader’s airwaves.

First, Rose talked about the possibility of the duo heading to the Knicks. It seems unlikely, as both Irving and Butler are … what’s the word? Ah, that’s right, smart. They’re too smart to do that, right? (However, remember that Rose was talking about Butler-to-Minnesota a full year before that trade actually went down…)

Then, Windhorst discusses Butler’s reported desire to play alongside Irving. This is no secret, of course. Wolves fans will remember when Minnesota was, in a surprise twist, one of four destinations to which Irving requested to be traded back when he was in the process of exiting Cleveland — undoubtedly because of Butler.

Jimmy Butler won’t sign the extension that will reportedly be on the table on the dawn of July 9. This if for a couple of reasons: one, there’s obviously some fire where there’s smoke, and we’ve heard quite a bit about Jimmy G’s frustration with his young teammates. That doesn’t mean he’s demanding a trade, it just means — and this is completely fair — that he doesn’t want to lock in the final years of his prime with a couple of teammates who may or may not make “the leap”.

Secondly, Butler can make a ton more money if he waits until next summer. Let’s quickly turn it over to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski…

Hear me out, Wolves fans: Butler and Irving are both in wait-and-see mode regarding the 2018-19 season. Depending on how things shake out, they could each choose to remain in their current cities and sign extensions, or they could join forces elsewhere. Or, a combination of the two.

Keep in mind that Andrew Wiggins’ massive contract extension kicks in this year, and next offseason, there will be plenty of teams with cap space. If Butler tells Tom Thibodeau and the Wolves’ front office that he’ll stay if Wiggins goes, or something along those lines, than all Minnesota has to do is find a taker for the former number-one overall pick. And while he’ll need to make a leap to justify his contract moving forward, there are surely teams that will have cap space to burn next summer, and owners and general managers that could be interested in the potential (and the headlines) that acquiring Wiggins would bring.

Stay with me. If the Wolves can off-load Wiggins and if Karl-Anthony Towns continues to improve, than Minnesota could be the most attractive destination for Butler to get paid and Irving to join him. Jeff Teague would be in the way but has a player option for next year, so he could either choose to opt-out or be traded as an expiring to another organization.

Is it likely that Irving, Butler, and Towns all end up on the Timberwolves next summer? Of course not, but two of the three of them are already here, and Minnesota can pay Butler and Towns more than any other team.

But all of this is to point out that all of this speculation is wayyy ahead of where it should be at this stage. Anything can happen in the next 12 months.

Next: Top 5 remaining free agents for the Timberwolves

Stay tuned, and don’t believe everything you read.