According to the Los Angeles Daily News’ Mark Medina, Bulls forward Jimmy Butler, who is a restricted free agent come this Wednesday, is interested in signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly for Butler, the league’s salary cap rules won’t allow him to do so.
Jimmy Butler may want to move on with his career from Chicago, but it seems highly unlikely he worms his way out of a Bulls uniform this summer, via Medina:
Lastly, Chicago forward Jimmy Butler hopes to take his talents elsewhere and take advantage of the new television deal after his career year coincided with Tom Thibodeau’s firing and Derrick Rose’s chemistry issues. Although Butler wants to sign a one-year deal with the Lakers, according to a league source familiar with his thinking, the Bulls are expected to match any offer for the restricted free agent.
“There is no definitive answer on what each marquee free agent should do,” another NBA agent said. “It depends on each player and their set of circumstances.”
General Manager Mitch Kupchak has indicated that he intends to focus on the frontcourt, and a player like Jimmy Butler is an ideal candidate, and quite possibly on the top of his list. But to put it plainly for Bulls fans, and of course this is something Kupchak knows; Butler cannot sign a one-year offer sheet with another team because of something called the Maximum Qualifying Offer. Here’s CBA genius Mark Deeks at HoopsHype, explaining what exactly that is and how it would essentially keep him in Chicago until 2018:
A Maximum Qualifying Offer is, essentially, an offer of a maximum contract. It is not a contract – it is an offer. It is not binding on the player. It is not something the player has to accept, or that prevents him from signing contracts with other teams, be they in the NBA or elsewhere. But it is something that impacts upon their options afterwards.
By extending a Maximum Qualifying Offer, the Bulls can ensure that Butler, if he still chooses to sign with another team, cannot hit the unrestricted free agent market until the summer of 2018, two years after the salary cap has begun the very huge increase he wants so badly to cash in on. Butler is thinking about his next payday, despite not having received the first one yet, because of the potential rewards it may yield. For the same reason, Chicago will not want him to. Using this clause, they can do something about that.
So there you have it folks, this may seem like an unfair deal for any player even for Jimmy Butler, however that is how this has always worked and Jimmy wont be the first exception to the rule. The rules are on Chicago’s side so it’ll definitely be worthwhile to wait and see how this all plays out this summer.
