Butler made his move – now it’s Wolves’ turn

MIAMI – Jimmy Butler knows that NBA players can force their way into trades.

Forcing their way into a trade that suits the player, that’s an entirely different story.

Butler has told the Minnesota Timberwolves that he has no intentions of re-signing with the club next summer, his way of saying “trade me now’’ or “lose me for nothing later.’’ The Athletic first reported Butler’s decision.

It’s a power move that players can make.

Thing is, it comes with risk – because what happens next is not up to Butler.

This was the lesson learned from the Kawhi Leonard situation, from the Kyrie Irving situation, from the Paul George situation. Leonard supposedly was hoping for a trade from San Antonio to the Los Angeles Clippers. Irving wanted to be sent by Cleveland to either San Antonio and Miami. George was widely assumed to leave Indiana for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Leonard is in Toronto, at least for one season.

Irving got sent to Boston, and is a free agent next summer.

George landed in Oklahoma City, and probably will be there for years.

Not a whole lot of people saw those exact moves coming. But the teams did what was best for them. In all three cases, the Spurs, the Cavs and the Pacers got the best deal they could make.

Now it’s Butler’s turn.

It should be easy to deduce that Butler can see himself with the Clippers, New York or Brooklyn, since all of those teams will have the cap space to give him the $140 million (or $190M ) max contract he’s seeking.

Miami would interest him as well, since Butler has raved about the city in the past and he’s still very tight with fellow Marquette alum and former Chicago teammate Dwyane Wade. Toronto is believed to be on his radar. Playing alongside LeBron James with the Lakers is something that hardly anyone in the NBA would sneeze at.