Well, I'm surprised someone hasn't asked this question already. Butler has asked to be traded, and he named three teams. The Knicks, the Clippers, and the Net's. None of them are playoff teams, but all three will have the capspace to give him the contract he wants at the end of next season. When last I checked, the Kings will have as much if not more than all three of those teams. The reason he picked the Clippers, is that he prefers to play either on the east coast, or in California. Once again, when last I checked, the Kings are in California.
Sooooo, should, will, the Kings pursue Butler? He certainly fills a couple of needs. First, he's a SF and second, he's considered a franchise player by many in the NBA. Personally, if I'm Vlade, I'm on the phone doing my best sales pitch. The next question is, what would Minny want for Butler. Well, I do have some thoughts on that. First, they're not in a particularly good bargaining position. The team trading for him is guaranteed only one year of service with the hopes that he'll resign with them at the end of that year. So with that in mind, how much would any team, not just the Kings, be willing to gamble on resigning him at years end?
I'll be the first to admit, that sometimes you have to stick your neck out further than you want in order to acquire a valued commodity. Now may be that time. Unfortunately, the Kings don't have a 1st round pick this year to offer, so any 1st rd pick would have to be a future pick, and do the Kings want to forfeit their future with no guarantee from Butler. The Kings do have assets though, and they have additional capspace to work with if needed. Personally, I haven't thought about this enough to come up with an offer, but I'm sure someone will. I certainly hope that the Kings have the T-Wolves phone number.