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Woj: Jimmy Butler trade could turn into multi-team blockbuster

By Net Income

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Minnesota Timberwolves v Chicago Bulls Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Woj must not be getting much sleep.

In another early morning story, Adrian Wojnarowski writes that the Nets could be part of a multi-team blockbuster involving Jimmy Butler. Woj provided few details, but the key to it all is that one NBA team, the Kings, has cap space ($11 million) and has offfered to leverage it into getting a first round pick.

In recent days, Sacramento has been aggressive in courting Minnesota and several of Butler’s trade suitors -- offering to use its space as a landing spot for bloated contracts. The Kings are without their first-round draft pick in 2019, and uniquely positioned to leverage that cap space into, at a minimum, a future first-round pick and maybe more as part of a Butler blockbuster. The Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers and Miami Heat all have contracts that they’d love to unload, and a Butler deal could mean that they deliver Sacramento a pick and cash to take on a veteran player.

Assistant GM Brandon Williams has informed teams that the Kings aren’t adverse to parking contracts that extend into the 2019-20 season, including Dieng. Whatever happens with the Butler deal, the Kings are determined to use that $11 million in cap space and their expiring contracts to gather more assets for the future.

What could that mean for the Nets? It’s all kind of vague —and Woj does not suggest the Nets are interested in such a deal— but one scenario could lead to the Nets dumping an unwanted contract on the Kings along with the Nuggets pick and in return come up with Butler. Better you consult the ESPN Trade Machine for details.

Meanwhile, Woj reports that the Timberwolves have gone from “slow-playing” talks to ownership and management getting on the same page. Woj writes that GM Scott Layden has “graduated to the next phase of negotiations with teams: Asking for stars, starters, draft picks and salary cap relief for the chance to acquire Butler, league sources said.”

The move comes in light of Tom Thibodeau’s latest talks with Butler. Whatever Thibs told Butler, it didn’t work. Butler re-confirmed he wants out of Minnesota.

Meanwhile, several Nets rumored to be involved in trade talks spoke at Media Day about the possibility of being sent elsewhere ... and Butler joining the team.

“Being in trade rumors all summer, I guess it’s two pieces. I want to be here, I love being here, I’m happy that they didn’t. And on the flip side, the spectrum of teams calling means obviously I played well,” Spencer Dinwiddie said.

“I’ve been on the other side of that situation where obviously nobody cared what I was doing. It’s cool in that respect. I guess mildly stressful.”

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson said he would welcome Butler.

“If he [Jimmy Butler] comes, we’d love to have him,” said RHJ. “If not, we’ll just keep working and doing what we do best here.”

But what if he was someone the Nets would move?

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to know it’s a business,” Hollis-Jefferson replied. “You’ve got to know decisions have to be made for the betterment of the organization. I know me, and I know how I am as a person. I really feel comfortable being put in any situation that I’ll thrive and strive for greatness because I work hard at the end of the day.”

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