While the Los Angeles Lakers had a historically bad season last year, that doesn’t mean key free agents are avoiding the purple and gold.
That includes Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, who is said to not only desire a short term contract, but wants to play for the LA Lakers.
We’ve already heard rumblings of such for a few weeks now, but the noise only continues to grow as NBA free agency draws near.
Lastly, Chicago forward Jimmy Butler hopes to take his talents elsewhere and take advantage of the new television deal after his career year coincided with Tom Thibodeau’s firing and Derrick Rose’s chemistry issues. Although Butler wants to sign a one-year deal with the Lakers, according to a league source familiar with his thinking, the Bulls are expected to match any offer for the restricted free agent.
Given Jimmy Butler’s restricted free agent status, the Chicago Bulls have the right to match any contract offer Jimmy Butler is to receive.
Perhaps the thinking here is that the Lakers, with a significant amount of cap room, could try to offer Jimmy Butler a massive one-year deal to play with Kobe Bryant, which the Chicago Bulls could potentially refuse to match, allowing him to sign with the Lakers. Of course, that’s probably wishful thinking as the Bulls would still potentially match such a deal and there’s no guarantee the Lakers would offer such either, given the risk of Butler leaving the following year.
