Jimmy Butler traded to the Utah Jazz
Utah is an intriguing team.
A lot like the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz and Denver aren’t historically great free agent destination in the summer for a lot of guys, but once you get there and feel the fan base and city out, players seem to really enjoy themselves there.
The Jazz are 4-4 and will be fighting for a playoff spot this season, which I believe – if Rudy Gobert is healthy – they will get home-court advantage in the West. So obviously they are a great team and adding an asset like Jimmy Butler and pairing him next to a very similar young stud in Donovan Mitchell, you could really make some noise leading up to the Western Finals.
A starting lineup of the Jazz would look like this: Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert.
Again, a lot like Milwaukee or Denver, the Utah Jazz need an extra piece to complete their roster for the playoffs and the 4-time All-Star Jimmy Butler is it.
The Wolves would get an interesting haul for Butler’s talents.
Alec Burks would finally get out of Utah where he – arguably – hasn’t been utilized correctly and also hasn’t been healthy for the majority of his career there. Jae Crowder would most likely start at the wing for defensive reasons and he’s – at times – a nice knock down three point shooter.
And the most interesting player is Royce O’Neal who is essentially a first round pick in himself. He only plays around 14 MPG, but has the potential to be a really nice role player in this league, he’s essentially an all-around asset a lot like the Miami Heat’s Justise Winslow.
The 2019 unprotected is a nice cherry on top for Minnesota, who I’m sure would hope that Utah would just fall short of the playoffs and the Wolves could get a lottery pick out of this deal.
Ultamitely, I wouldn’t make this move even with the nice pieces in return for Butler, just because I think Minny would be making Utah an immovable object in the playoff standings in the West for years to come.