NBA Trade Rumors: Jimmy Butler And Rajon Rondo To Lakers, Jordan Clarkson, Lou Williams, Brandon Ingram, And Metta World Peace To Bulls

The Chicago Bulls recently sparked a new set of NBA trade rumors when the team was reported to have made superstar small forward Jimmy Butler available in the trade market. Fox Sports shares that NBA insider Ric Bucher has said the Bulls are not sure if they want to build their team around Butler, and they have already begun trade talks with other teams involving a possible deal for Jimmy Butler. The article also states that the Los Angeles Lakers appear to be one of the favorites to land Butler if he is sent out of Chicago.

Yibada has published a piece that goes into even more detail regarding the Lakers’ alleged interest in making a deal for Jimmy Butler. Not only would Butler make Los Angeles a better team in the short-term, but his presence could help the Lakers acquire some big-name free agents next summer and beyond. Combo guard Jordan Clarkson and small forward Brandon Ingram are both mentioned as players who could be part of an offer that would bring Butler to Los Angeles to play in Staples Center.

Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo was brought in to be a key figure in the team’s starting lineup, but when head coach Fred Hoiberg recently took Rondo completely out of Chicago’s playing rotation, NBA trade rumors began to fly. According to Bleacher Report, Rondo himself confirmed that if he isn’t playing regularly for the Bulls, then he wants to be traded. Hoiberg feels that Rondo is not playing well and looks slow on the court, so for now, he has given the starting point guard job to Michael Carter-Williams.

Brandon Ingram, the small forward from Duke who the Lakers chose with the second pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, has had a difficult time adjusting to the NBA game during his rookie season, and some fans have already called for Ingram to be included in a trade if Los Angeles is able to swing a deal for a star player. Zach Lowe of ESPN writes that some NBA executives would absolutely be willing to include Ingram in a trade for a star player, but it remains to be seen if the Lakers would go through with a deal like that.

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Another Los Angeles Lakers player who has been mentioned in various NBA trade rumors is shooting guard Lou Williams. Williams is off to a scintillating start this season, and with fellow shooting guard Nick Young also playing well, Fansided opines that Lou Williams could be a very attractive trade chip if the Lakers want to make a move before the February trade deadline.

One of the hot rumors that is circulating the internet would see the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls striking a deal. According to this scenario, Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo would go to the Lakers, while Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, and Lou Williams would head to Chicago to play for the Bulls. The rumor also includes small forward Metta World Peace going back to Chicago, the team who originally drafted him back in 1999 when he was still known as Ron Artest.

This trade would be a legal transaction per the ESPN NBA Trade Machine, but of course, that doesn’t mean the deal is plausible in terms of what happens on the basketball court, just that the financial numbers work under NBA rules. This deal would seem to make the Lakers better right now, but what about the long-term? Most fans who are debating this trade scenario online would prefer to see Los Angeles keep their young players and grow with them, rather than try to speed up the rebuilding process by obtaining Jimmy Butler.

For the Chicago Bulls, they would take an immediate step back if they made this deal, but the point of this trade would be to enter full-on rebuilding mode. Clarkson, Williams, and Ingram would be nice assets for the Bulls to build with, so if the Lakers were willing, the temptation would also be there for Chicago.

A very compelling but easily overlooked part of this offering from the latest batch of NBA trade rumors is Metta World Peace, who is basically a throw-in. World Peace is playing on a one-year contract, so the Lakers would have to get his approval to include him in a trade. World Peace may very well have some ill feelings toward the Bulls since his time in Chicago was very rocky and ended with him being dealt to the Indiana Pacers in an effort to “get rid” of him in 2001. The very unpredictable Metta World Peace could kill this potential deal all by himself, and seeing what he would do might be one of the most intriguing parts of this entire situation.

[Featured Image by Alex Gallardo/AP Images]