The NBA season is officially over as the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Finals 4-2 to beat the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. That means it’s time for the offseason, which also means it’s time for multiple reports on where the biggest free agents are going to sign.
Friday had one of those types of reports, as Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported on Jimmy Butler declining his $19.8 player option with the Philadelphia 76ers to become a free agent this summer. Haynes reported that the Sixers “remain adamant” about bringing Butler back, but also reported that the Los Angeles Lakers have “genuine interest in acquiring Butler”.
The Lakers having “interest” in Jimmy Butler isn’t necessarily surprising. It was reported only a few weeks ago that LeBron James had reached out to both Butler and Kyrie Irving about joining the Lakers. It was also reported in March that the Lakers thought about trading for Butler at one point. Needless to say they’ve definitely been linked multiple times in the past year, and although Jimmy Butler won’t be as sought after as say Kawhi Leonard, he’s still one of the best players in the league on both sides of the floor.
Butler could join LeBron to create quite the duo on the Lakers, or he could even be joining Anthony Davis on the team creating quite the formidable trio. Trade talks as of right now are ongoing between the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans for Davis, although the Celtics are also reportedly involved.
The Lakers will more than likely be linked to all of the big name free agents this offseason. Don’t be surprised if these same types of reports come out regarding Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving among the others. Also, expect there to be some serious interest from those respective free agents if Anthony Davis is indeed traded to the Lakers. The idea of joining LeBron James and Davis in L.A. will be very, very interesting to just about anyone who plays basketball professionally.
