Oklahoma City Thunder trade for Jimmy Butler:
The Oklahoma City Thunder should just change their team name to grit if they got Jimmy Butler and Russell Westbrook to pair next to each other.
In this case, we have the Timberwolves sending Butler away for defense and shooting – a lot like the Blazers trade. Forward Andre Roberson is historically one of the worst offensive players in NBA history, but also is one of the great defensive players in history, specifically from the perimeter.
Roberson would most likely have to come off the bench in most match ups but he would be a huge help nonetheless against teams with fantastic guards and wings.
Alex Abrines adds much needed 3-point shooting to the Wolves roster and Terrance Ferguson is a young prospect who needs mentor ship, hopefully under Andrew Wiggins.
I added two draft picks this time for the Timberwolves, just because this is the weakest haul they could get from most teams around the league due to cap constraints.
The Thunder would absolutely make this deal happen. In fact, I’m sure GM Sam Presti has dreamed about this lineup for years. Westbrook and Butler is one thing, but topping it off with Paul George is insane.
Essentially having three top-20 players on your team is a pretty good Warriors-like team, but it potentially makes the Thunder the second best team in the NBA.
So this is not a trade for Wolves nation.
Utah Jazz trade for Jimmy Butler:
This is the worst haul for Minnesota thus far in the player arena, so essentially Butler is getting traded for two unprotected first round picks and that sounds pretty good in the type of cap market we’re currently in.
The Timberwolves get two players to toy with a bit in the starting lineup, trying to figure out who fits where and the seeing if the chemistry works. Alec Burks is an inconsistent guard that is young and has potential, but his deal is up and you can expect he won’t want to stay in Minnesota unless he gets a starting job.
Jae Crowder was a proven NBA veteran for the Boston Celtics and now he seems like a liability, his career is sloping downward and hopefully the Wolves could get something out of him.
Donovan Mitchell is one of the youngest stars in the NBA that frankly doesn’t need any guidance from a veteran, at least from the outside it looks like that. But he does play an awful lot like Jimmy Butler so this just makes sense for Utah in a schematic way.
Pairing up these two guards seems like a defensive match made in heaven, especially with Ricky Rubio tossing them dimes and Rudy Gobert under the basket at all times.
Conclusion:
These trades really favored the opposite team, but the Minnesota Timberwolves have really hurt themselves in this scenario.
They are extremely vulnerable to other teams demands and Butler could be traded for some good role players and a first round pick, which is why all of these deals look the way they do.
I would grade the deals as followed:
Golden State Warriors … C
Houston Rockets … B-
Portland Trailblazers … D+
Oklahoma City Thunder … C-
Utah Jazz … C
The Rockets deal seems to be the only one to me that could potentially make sense. Houston has been known to make things work in the trade market, so that’s definitely a possibility.
We’ll have part two coming soon for you and that will include some of the middle-tier western conference teams!