Jimmy Butler has already been dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers, so it would be understandable if one reacted to the news that he once was interested in the Los Angeles Lakers trading for him with a “who cares.” But this still might matter, and I’ll explain why.
But first, let’s take a look at the actual report. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes that Butler once had interest in joining LeBron James in purple and gold, but that he was lower on the team’s priority list than other options, and that they didn’t have contracts to make a trade easy — at least not until December 15, anyway — which is part of why he’s in Philly now:
Earlier in the summer, Butler had interest in joining the Lakers, but Los Angeles didn’t have the contracts available to match salaries for a swap.