Can the Cleveland Cavaliers pull off a trade for Jimmy Butler without a general manager in place?
The logical answer is hell no.
The actual answer might be yes.
From the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley:
According to multiple sources in Cleveland, not only have Cavaliers players – including LeBron James and Kyrie Irving – been reaching out to Butler directly and through back channels over the last five days to gauge his interest, but those players liked what they heard back from the Bulls’ three-time All-Star.
One of the sources indicated that Butler would even push his front office to get the deal done, which is a huge change of direction for Butler, who has told both general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson numerous times over the last year that he didn’t want to be traded.
But that was before the Eastern Conference powerhouse Cavaliers became a possible destination.
This is interesting. But it’s also unlikely.
The Cavaliers still need to reroute Kevin Love to a third team that can send the necessary assets for Butler to the Chicago Bulls. That’ll be tough to do. It’s one thing when it’s Paul George, a patented flight risk other teams may not want to touch. But Butler won’t be a free agent until 2019. If you have the assets to trade for him, why help the Cavaliers instead of just going after him yourself?
The list of teams that would be scared of Butler’s free agency, two years from now, is short. Maybe the Phoenix Suns are content to help out. The Denver Nuggets have plenty of wings, so maybe Butler isn’t one of their primary concerns. Even these feel like long shots, hence the delicacy of the Cavaliers’ situation: It’ll be hard, nigh impossible, for them to get Butler if they don’t plan on moving Kyrie Irving.
