{"id":95434,"date":"2024-09-12T16:05:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T20:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=95434"},"modified":"2024-09-12T16:05:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T20:05:45","slug":"nets-ben-simmons-reason-jimmy-butler-very-interested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/12\/nets-ben-simmons-reason-jimmy-butler-very-interested\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ben Simmons Reason Jimmy Butler\u2019s \u2018Very\u2019 Interested In Nets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Miami Heat forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/butleji01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Butler<\/a>\u2019s \u201cinterest in the Brooklyn Nets is very, very real,\u201d per Nets Daily\u2019s Bob Windrem.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jimmy Butler\u2019s interest in the Brooklyn Nets is \u2018very\u2019 real, partly due to a connection with Ben Simmons, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NetsDaily?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NetsDaily<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJimmy Butler\u2019s interest in the Brooklyn Nets is very, very real. Part of it is New York, part of it is that Bernie Lee \u2014 who is Ben Simmons agent, is very\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ihNCVc0Ahe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ihNCVc0Ahe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1834308556067082629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very real. It\u2019s very real,\u201d Windrem continues. \u201cI can\u2019t get into details for a number of reasons\u2026 Part of it is New York. Part of it is that Bernie Lee \u2014 who is Ben Simmons\u2019s agent \u2014is very happy with how his client has been dealt with by the Nets.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Ben Simmons Reason Jimmy Butler\u2019s \u2018Very\u2019 Interested In Nets<\/h2>\n<p>Notably, Butler is repped by Lee, an agent for Thread Sports. Lee has been Butler\u2019s agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/blog\/nba\/rumors\/post\/_\/id\/43161\/rumor-central-jimmy-butler-signs-with-an-agent\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">since Jun. 2017<\/a>, right before the Chicago Bulls sent him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a draft day trade. He\u2019s been Simmons\u2019s since last March, after the former No. 1 pick parted ways with Klutch Sports.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ben Simmons is expected to hire Bernie Lee as his new agent, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonKrawczynski?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@JonKrawczynski<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lee also reps Jimmy Butler <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4VlSZYHetM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4VlSZYHetM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1636841476289183747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Lee has plenty of familiarity with Butler. He\u2019s also had an entire year to monitor Simmons\u2019s situation with the Nets. Though the evidence is circumstantial, there\u2019s reason to believe that he \u2014or someone familiar with his thinking \u2014is the source of the information.<\/p>\n<p>If so, then Butler\u2019s purported <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/31\/heat-jimmy-butler-likes-surprise-team-preparing-for-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">interest in joining<\/a> the Nets certainly could be real. However, with Butler attempting to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/02\/former-nba-all-star-seeking-max-contract-this-summer-miami-heat-jimmy-butler\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">secure a max contract extension<\/a> with the Miami Heat, it could be a leverage play. Especially as the Heat and Butler\u2019s timelines sync up better than the Nets and the Butler\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>To that point, Windrem acknowledges that he has \u201cno idea at this point how the Nets feel about it.\u201d Nonetheless, his \u201csense is\u2026 (Butler\u2019s interest is) real.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Would The Nets Bite On Butler?<\/h3>\n<p>Butler may see himself transforming Brooklyn into a championship-caliber team. With the Nets projected to have $80.1 million in cap space next season, they may even be able to acquire another star. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Randle<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Green<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuminjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> are just a few of the talents who could become trade or free agent targets.<\/p>\n<p>This quick fix to their roster may not be as exciting of a prospect to the Nets these days. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/piercpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Pierce<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garneke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Garnett<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willide01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deron Williams<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a>, they haven\u2019t had the best luck with that approach. Nonetheless, if the path becomes more tangible, they just may decide to try again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler\u2019s \u201cinterest in the Brooklyn Nets is very, very real,\u201d per Nets Daily\u2019s Bob Windrem. Jimmy Butler\u2019s interest in the Brooklyn Nets is \u2018very\u2019 real, partly due to a connection with Ben Simmons, per @NetsDaily \u201cJimmy Butler\u2019s interest in the Brooklyn Nets is very, very real. Part of it is New [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":95449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1608,16,62],"tags":[266,142,297],"class_list":["post-95434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nets","category-basketball","category-heat","category-nba","tag-ben-simmons","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}