The initial trade market for Jimmy Butler is confused and cool, league sources say, as teams contemplate their appetite for risk and wonder whether the Timberwolves can coalesce around trade talks -- or whether Tom Thibodeau's reported desire to keep Butler at all costs wins the day.
The three teams on Butler's preferred list -- Brooklyn, New York, and the Los Angeles Clippers, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski -- might engage Butler in something of a game of chicken. Butler wants the full five-year, $190 million max contract only his incumbent team can offer him this summer.