8. Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets already have Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap in a stacked starting lineup that boasts one of the NBA’s best offenses. If they really want Jimmy Butler, they could always try to clear salary and sign him in free agency next summer.
However, it’d take some finagling (or dumping Millsap) to get their books in that position, and it’d open the door to competition in free agency. If Butler is really on their radar, they could opt to sacrifice a piece of the young core to accelerate their window for contention.
Jokic and Murray should be untouchable, while Millsap is on an expensive contract without much value. That leaves us with one of the game’s on-the-rise 3-and-D shooting guards, Gary Harris:
This would be a tremendous get for the Timberwolves, not only because his skill-set is a perfect fit, but because he’s only 24 years old. His perimeter defense, 17.5 points per game and 39.6 percent shooting from 3 would be terrific complements in Minnesota.
The upgrade from Harris to Butler would be tremendous for Denver, but he’s also five years older than Harris and could be signed next summer if the Nuggets declined Millsap’s team option. Why not give Millsap another year, see if Michael Porter Jr. can be the answer at the 4, keep Harris and try to add Butler to their biggest position of need next summer? There’s always the risk of losing him that way, but Denver is not in a position where it needs to add Butler either way.