NBA Trade Rumors: Wolves need Eric Gordon in any Jimmy Butler deal from Rockets
NBA Trade Rumors: If the Houston Rockets are going to land Jimmy Butler, they’re going to need to add Eric Gordon to their reported offer
The Houston Rockets may have offered four first-round picks (and salary fillers) to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Jimmy Butler, but Tom Thibodeau and the Wolves want a bit more. They want Eric Gordon.
So much so that it’s currently the one thing standing between Butler being moved to the Rockets.
According to Malika Andrews of ESPN, the Wolves need Gordon in the offer if a deal is going to get done between the two teams.
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"Houston has offered four future first-round picks to Minnesota, but that package doesn’t include guard Eric Gordon, who’d be mandatory for Minnesota in any proposed deal, league sources said. Thibodeau wants a maximum return on players able to help Minnesota get back to the playoffs."
And this makes sense and lines up with what has been reported over the last few weeks. Thibs wants to retain his job and in order to do so he has to win games, and not take steps back. Losing Butler for four future unknowns and two salary fillers doesn’t make this team any better.
In fact, such a deal would make this team take a few steps back. They would not make the playoffs and would be back at the drawing board. Sure, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns might be given more freedom, but I’m not necessarily sure that means a better Wolves team.
Adding a player like Gordon would cushion the fall and drop of this team in the Western Conference hierarchy. They’d still have trouble making the playoffs, but they’d still be quite competitive and would be in the playoff race.
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I’m not sure that’s the case if you simply take Butler away and replace him with picks and no real, tangible answers right now. I think if there’s one thing we can all agree on though, it’s that this saga needs to end sooner rather than later.