NBA Rumors: Nuggets Could Trade Gary Harris And Jamal Murray For Jimmy Butler, Per ‘Denver Stiffs’


Having one of the most promising young cores in the league, ESPN panelists predicted the Denver Nuggets to end their five-year playoff drought in the upcoming 2018-19 NBA season. However, in order to fully dominate the deep Western Conference, the Nuggets obviously need more star power on their team.

Days before the training camp starts, rumors and speculations continue to swirl that the Minnesota Timberwolves could soon part ways with Jimmy Butler. According to SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs, the Nuggets should consider making a move once Butler becomes available on the trade market. Aside from creating enough salary cap space to give Butler a max contract next summer, the Nuggets should also come up with a “pretty trade package” that can convince the Timberwolves to make a deal.

“Well, for starters about $140 million over the next 4 years ($35 million per season on average) which does create some long-term complications in itself. More importantly, though, Butler is one of the best players in the league and therefore is going to require a pretty trade package to acquire. It doesn’t really matter that his growing discontent in Minnesota is out in the public, as long as one other team will want to trade for him (and there will be several) the Nuggets will have to put together a good enough package to beat it, regardless of the Timberwolves lack of leverage.”

Though Jimmy Butler is set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason, the Timberwolves are still expecting a good return. SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs suggested multiple trade packages the Nuggets could offer to the Timberwolves for their disgruntled superstar. However, the only trade package that can convince the Timberwolves to pull the trigger is the one that includes the Nuggets’ starting backcourt duo.

In the proposed trade deal by SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs, the Nuggets will be sending Jamal Murray and Gary Harris to the Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine. In exchange for their disgruntled superstar, the Timberwolves would have two solid contributors who fit the timeline of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.

The departure of Butler in Minnesota could make Wiggins more involved on the Timberwolves’ offense which will greatly help him speed up his development into a legitimate NBA superstar in the league. The acquisition of Butler will undeniably boost the Nuggets’ performance on both ends of the floor. However, it remains a big question if they are crazy enough to part ways with two of their key players for a possible one-year rental.

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