LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have reached out to Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler to “gauge” his interest in playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers — and now Butler wants to join the Cavaliers, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley reported Tuesday that Cavaliers players have been in Butler’s ear for the past five days and “like what they heard back” from Butler.
Cowley writes:
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 VP of basketball operations John Paxson numerous times over the last year that he didn’t want to be traded.
Then again, that was before the Eastern Conference powerhouse Cavaliers became a possible destination.
Butler is under contract for the next two seasons and would have to force a trade from the Bulls, who are under no obligation to accommodate him. While the Bulls have not committed to Butler as their franchise player, multiple reports have said Chicago’s asking price is high in any potential trade.
The Cavaliers are looking to upgrade their roster after losing the Golden State Warriors in five games in the NBA Finals. To make any significant upgrade, the Cavaliers would almost certainly have to trade Kevin Love or Tristan Thompson in return.
And Cowley writes a third team would have to be involved in any Cavs-Bulls trade.
As reported Monday, a third team would have to be brought in to make the deal happen because the Cavaliers don’t have the right assets to trade directly with the Bulls.
Phoenix was mentioned in one report, but the Los Angeles Lakers could also come into play. The Lakers have high draft picks, young players, and motivation to add a Kevin Love so that it makes the possible courting of free agent-to-be Paul George an even easier sell.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, need a general manager to complete a deal. They announced Monday that David Griffin would not return next season.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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