Houston Rockets Reportedly Interested in Recruiting Jimmy Butler
Written by SOURCE on June 25, 2019
The Houston Rockets plan to pursue Jimmy Butler in free agency, according to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski. The NBA insider reports:
Once free agency starts on Sunday, the Houston Rockets are planning to recruit Jimmy Butler to push the Philadelphia 76ers for a sign-and-trade deal that would allow the All-Star forward to join James Harden and Chris Paul, league sources tell ESPN.
The Rockets do not have enough cap space to sign Butler to a max contract while keeping Chris Paul and James Harden on their roster. However, Woj believes the team might use the threat of Butler walking away to pressure Philadelphia into a trade deal. The reports claimed that the Rockets would have to offer up Clint Capela and Eric Gordon to make a potential four-year deal work.
All this pressure could be for nought, though, if Philly falls in behind Butler for the foreseeable future. They have the cap space to offer Butler a five-year, $190 million max contract and they could offer it to Butler as soon as free agency opens. If Butler wishes to move on and can find a max offer elsewhere, that could leave Philadelphia looking foolish.
Houston’s priority for free agency, league sources tell ESPN: Pursue a sign-and-trade for Sixers All-Star Jimmy Butler. https://t.co/Bsk6g2YhfW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2019
Butler himself could hinder the trade, as he’s expected to be on the lookout for max contracts only, something that Houston can’t offer.
