Stein: Cavs trying to assemble a multi-team deal that lands Butler in Cleveland

[Celts Fan 508]

He isn't throwing Indy under the bus. He's giving Indy a chance to trade him for something before he bolts and Indy gets nothing. How is letting Indy know he is leaving throwing them under a bus?

Paul George’s camp is informing teams that he is not going to re-sign with anyone, regardless of who trades for him. He is fully intending to sign with the Lakers in free agency next summer without them giving up substantial assets.

That's like the literal definition of PG throwing Indy under the bus in this situation. He doesn't want LA to give up any substantial assets in a trade for him, so he's killing any other trade possibility.

He's not giving Indy any chance whatsoever at this point, i.e. throwing them under the bus.

I strongly disagree JPot.  I appreciate him being honest to teams that would otherwise giving up major asserts to acquired.  He should have been traded at the deadline.

[Diggles]

He isn't throwing Indy under the bus. He's giving Indy a chance to trade him for something before he bolts and Indy gets nothing. How is letting Indy know he is leaving throwing them under a bus?

Paul George’s camp is informing teams that he is not going to re-sign with anyone, regardless of who trades for him. He is fully intending to sign with the Lakers in free agency next summer without them giving up substantial assets.

That's like the literal definition of PG throwing Indy under the bus in this situation. He doesn't want LA to give up any substantial assets in a trade for him, so he's killing any other trade possibility.

He's not giving Indy any chance whatsoever at this point, i.e. throwing them under the bus.

I strongly disagree JPot.  I appreciate him being honest to teams that would otherwise giving up major asserts to acquired.  He should have been traded at the deadline.

I guess its better than not telling them and walking as a FA.   And honest....   He wants to work and play ball in LA....for the Lakers.   Dream come true.   Give the man a break.   He earned it with his talents.   I appreciate the honest from his camp.   

[liam]

If it is a three team trade for Cleveland getting Butler and assuming the Bulls want more than Love is there a possibility that Cleveland deals both Love and Thompson to two different teams? I do not see anyone else on there roster as much value.

Thompson's contract is an albatross.

Tristan Thompson is extremely good.

He's role player on a stars contract.

[max215]

If it is a three team trade for Cleveland getting Butler and assuming the Bulls want more than Love is there a possibility that Cleveland deals both Love and Thompson to two different teams? I do not see anyone else on there roster as much value.

Thompson's contract is an albatross.

Tristan Thompson is extremely good.

He's role player on a stars contract.

That's not a star's contract under this cap. He makes like 60% of the max.

[liam]

Probably running into the same issue as with the Pacers - they simply have nothing to offer outside of Love, which these teams like Chicago and Indy don't want.

There's also this:

https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/876905871472807937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fchicago-bulls

Sources: Chicago’s price for Jimmy Butler remains elevated, but Minnesota has assets and interest. Sides made preliminary contact this week.

With the Bulter rumors surrounding Boston and the third pick, don't be surprised if they get thrown into the rumor pot with Butler, too.

But talk about an awkward fit in Cleveland, huh? I was sketchy of the George fit, but the Butler fit seems bad at best.

Good get. I would be more worried about the Wolves. A trade based around Wiggins, Lavine, and #7 (Markkanen?) would be a strong bid to start a rebuild. The three are 22, 22, and 20 respectively with plenty of upside. Crowder and Bradley are good players but they are pretty much what they are. Jackson or Tatum, of course, would have great upside.

If The Bulls got Wiggins, Lavine, and #7 (Markkanen?) for Butler that'd be a mighty good haul. I'm not sure that Wolves team makes the playoffs in the West. It's basically Towns, Butler and Rubio...

[Diggles]

No way the Wolves give up that for Butler... why?

[JBcat]

ESPN mentioned the Suns with 4 and Bledsoe as a possible landing spot for Love with the Suns assets headed to Chicago for Butler.

That would be stupid of the Suns.  They are rebuilding which would make it a strange move.

[Moranis]

ESPN mentioned the Suns with 4 and Bledsoe as a possible landing spot for Love with the Suns assets headed to Chicago for Butler.

That would be stupid of the Suns.  They are rebuilding which would make it a strange move.

they linked to Deandre Jordan now as well. 

The Suns want to win and frankly they have plenty of young player assets already.  I can see the appeal of acquiring a real legit star.  I assume they'd try to dump Chandler's contract in any of these moves and maybe Dudley.  So you acquire a star, dump some bad contracts, and give up a PG you don't really need and 4 (which is yet another young player that probably isn't a franchise altering talent). 

So say the 3 team trade is something like this:

Cleveland - Butler, Chandler
Phoenix - Love, Frye (expiring could be cut or not)
Chicago - Bledsoe, 4

Phoenix then gets a star and still has Booker, Chriss, Bender, Knight, Len, Warren, and Ulis to develop around Love along with Dudley, Barbosa, and Frye (if they don't cut him).  If some of those young guys take a nice step up this year, that would be an interesting team. 

Chicago gets a high draft pick and a solid PG on a reasonable contract for Butler, who probably will leave in a couple of seasons.  either way it allows Chicago to start their rebuild.  They might try to acquire something else in the trade, though I'm not sure what that is.  Maybe Phoenix would part with someone else or maybe they like Felder or some other bench player on the Cavs.

The Cavs, get an overall slight upgrade and the acquisition of Chandler, would theoretically allow them to move Thompson and Smith for Carmelo Anthony (or something like that).  That would be a pretty interesting team and a much tougher out for Golden State in the Finals with a starting 5 of Irving, Butler, James, Anthony, Chandler while they still have Korver, Shumpert, Williams, etc. on the bench.

[EJPLAYA]

If the Cavs manage to pull off this without giving up too much then we need to focus on our youth development. We have no shot against that squad even with a big free agent signing. If they have to give up Love (which seems likely) they are still a very strong offensive team, and the East is locked up for 2-3 more years. At that point Danny needs to keep and make the draft picks he has been able to accumulate, and get Brown and these other players in the game to be ready to go when Lebron really starts slipping. The worst thing we could do is give up all our youth potential to be perennial East Conference finals losers. I don't think we blow it up, but I think we don't overpay anyone on this squad and prevent ourselves from locking in a couple of these guys if/when they develop into All-Star level players.

[fairweatherfan]

Kinda surprised we're not speculating wildly about Love ending up here in a 3 team deal where #3 goes to Chicago and Butler to Cleveland. We know Danny likes him after all.

[EJPLAYA]

Kinda surprised we're not speculating wildly about Love ending up here in a 3 team deal where #3 goes to Chicago and Butler to Cleveland. We know Danny likes him after all.

I thought the same, however I think Love has shown this year especially that he isn't really that big a difference on that team. He's definitely not the difference in us being able to compete with the Cavs and so even though it would be an upgrade, it wouldn't be something that would allow us to get to the finals. I think Love has shown he's a little overrated.

[hodgy03038]

Kinda surprised we're not speculating wildly about Love ending up here in a 3 team deal where #3 goes to Chicago and Butler to Cleveland. We know Danny likes him after all.

If we could swing the #3 for Love without anything else I would do it. I am not sure how Cleveland losing Love and adding Butler improves their team so I don't believe it.

[MVPPierceNoJoke]

Kinda surprised we're not speculating wildly about Love ending up here in a 3 team deal where #3 goes to Chicago and Butler to Cleveland. We know Danny likes him after all.

I would be surprised if Ainge did do a deal with Cleveland. Unless Love made the C's significantly better, why would he help our biggest competition get better?

[footey]

CLE learned in the finals that they can't compete with GSW with Love as their starter along Thompson.  They get killed in switches. He can't guard anyone.

Why would we make the same mistake by trading for him?  He can't play along side Horford.

Our interest in Love made some sense before we signed Horford.  He no longer works for me.

[hodgy03038]

Kinda surprised we're not speculating wildly about Love ending up here in a 3 team deal where #3 goes to Chicago and Butler to Cleveland. We know Danny likes him after all.

I would be surprised if Ainge did do a deal with Cleveland. Unless Love made the C's significantly better, why would he help our biggest competition get better?

I personally don't think Butler instead of Love makes Cleveland better. I think they are worse with less size. Love, however, could make the Celtics significantly better in that respect. Therefore, why would the Cavs do a deal to make us better?