The Nets have been linked to Jimmy Butler in the past, and Miami has reportedly started to listen to trade offers for their aging All-Star.Just don’t expect one to be coming from Brooklyn.Butler has shown interest in coming to the Nets in the past, and a source close to the situation told The Post that is still very much the case.But after diving headfirst into a rebuild, Nets general manager Sean Marks isn’t believed to be interested in giving up assets he so assiduously collected.Could the offseason be a different story? Signing Butler as an unrestricted free agent? Perhaps.
But it’s unclear if the 35-year-old Butler — whose age doesn’t seem to match Brooklyn’s timeline — would be willing to take a pay cut or a shorter-term deal.Or if the Nets will have an appetite for that in the summer.What is clear is 1) they aren’t currently a trade partner, and 2) having his name linked in trade rumors isn’t a big deal to Butler.“I actually like it,” Butler said Wednesday.
“It’s good to be talked about.I don’t think there’s [such a] thing as bad publicity — to a point.
But somebody talks about me getting traded; it’s a lot.”The most prominent somebody was ESPN’s Shams Charania, with Tuesday’s report that Miami was taking calls on Butler and that the All-Star wants to play for the Rockets, Mavericks or Warriors.On Wednesday Charania added the Suns to his list, which conspicuously omitted the Nets.But ESPN co-worker Bobby Marks pointed out Phoenix is a second apron team that can’t combine salaries in any deal, while Bradley Beal has a trade clause.
More to the point, Butler’s agent Bernie Lee vociferously denied the report while Heat owner Mickey Arison retweeted Lee’s statement.Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.
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