ESPN’s cadre of experts have spoken, and they assert that Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler will flee Minneapolis for the Big Apple next summer.
Jimmy Butler is part of the top-flight free agency class of the summer of 2019, alongside fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant.
While there have been plenty of rumors already beginning to circulate surrounding the Timberwolves’ four-time All-Star and his buddy Kyrie Irving (and by ‘plenty of rumors’ … we’re looking at you again, ESPN) and where they will want to play together next year, this is the first time that there’s somewhat of an apparent consensus.
ESPN polled their 30-or-so experts on the five biggest names in next year’s free agency and asked where they would each be playing come fall of 2019. According to this poll, Thompson and Durant are both expected to stay in Golden State, which isn’t a surprise in any way except for that they’ll need to reach some sort of compromise to both get paid less than the maximum. If they do that — and it seems feasible — than it is absolutely a possibility that the Warriors dynasty could continue.
A whopping 57.6 percent of respondents tabbed the Los Angeles Lakers as Kawhi Leonard’s next destination after spending a year in Toronto. The next greatest response was 27.3 percent for the Raptors, followed by 15.1 percent thinking that he’ll suit up for the L.A. Clippers.
But the two buddies, Irving and Butler, have been rumored to be eyeing either the Nets or the Knicks as a location in which to team-up. And this poll, for whatever reason, favors the New York Knickerbockers.
Somewhat unbelievably, 42.4 percent of votes were cast for Butler to end up with the Knicks. Next up was the Lakers at 21.2 percent, followed by the Wolves at just 21.1 percent. That means that something like seven out of about 30 people thought he’d stick with his guy Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota.
Here’s what ESPN’s Adam Reisinger had to say about it:
"As with Irving, our panel sees New York as Butler’s most likely destination, though it’s difficult to see at this moment how the Knicks would create the cap space for both of them (not to mention the chance Durant chooses New York too). Perhaps most telling about these results though is the fact that 10 possible Butler destinations were listed, in addition to his current team.Butler was also the only player in our Forecast for whom his current team didn’t finish first or second in the voting, with only 12 percent of panelists seeing Minnesota as his long-term home. Expect the four-time All-Star to have a new team next summer."
Butler was the only one of the five All-Stars to have more than five possibilities listed (in fact, three of them had only three or four possible destinations represented), and there were 10 (ten!) teams listed as potential landing spots. The Wolves, Lakers, and Knicks were the only franchises to garner more than a single vote each, however.
In other words, nobody has a clue where Butler will end up. Will he try and partner up with Irving? Probably. But will it be with the Knicks? As noted by ESPN, that would be a difficult puzzle to solve from a cap perspective, and it isn’t like they have an extremely attractive roster as currently constructed.
Buckle up, Wolves fans. There will be plenty more rumors and non-rumors over the next 10 months. It’s only begun.