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Bill Simmons has never been afraid to throw a grenade into NBA discourse, but his latest idea raised eyebrows even by his standards. The longtime sportswriter and analyst floated a straight-up trade between LeBron James and Jimmy Butler, a concept that sounds absurd at first but becomes harder to dismiss the more context you apply,
“How do you make the league more fun? You have a team that nobody’s excited about with the Lakers and a team that feels dead with the Warriors. LeBron for Jimmy Butler,” Simmons said speaking on his podcast. “That’s it. It feels like, for the good of the sport, trade, just more fun. The Warriors are not fun. I don’t see a scenario where they become fun, but now you put LeBron on the team with Curry, LeBron reinvigorated, and who knows? And then Butler is probably a better fit with Luka and Reaves anyway. I think Golden State would probably do that because LeBron is an expiring contract in the year. Maybe they’d throw him one more year. It’s a good who says no though. Because if you’re the Lakers, you can lock in the Butler contract for an extra year because all they care about is two years from now. But maybe Butler is a better fit with what they have anyway, because LeBron doesn’t really seem like he wants to be on the Lakers is my take.”
The on-court production between the two stars is closer than expected.
Butler is averaging 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three. He is in the first year of a two-year, $110 million deal.
LeBron, meanwhile, is posting 20.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.7 assists on 50.7 percent shooting.
His three-point efficiency has dipped, but his contract situation makes the idea viable, as he is in the final year of his deal.
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