The Miami Heat have become a leading candidate to land Philadelphia 76ers star Jimmy Butler once free agency begins on Sunday night, but other teams around the league may be ramping up their pursuit of Butler as well.
Marc Stein of The New York Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to get in the mix to sign Butler after he plans to meet with the Heat:
Jimmy Butler meets with Heat officials at 6:01 PM ET tonight but continues to draw interest from a number of suitors, league sources say, with the Lakers making the latest aggressive bid. Lakers officials, I'm told, are pushing for a pitch meeting with Butler
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 30, 2019
The Lakers made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason in acquiring Anthony Davis to pair with LeBron James, and have recently opened up enough cap space to pursue another max salary slot in free agency. This could give them the slight advantage over Miami in any play for Butler.
Although Butler has made no bones about his desire to play for the Heat in the past few days, Miami is already over the salary cap for the 2019-20 season and would have to negotiate a sign-and-trade in order to land Butler.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, can immediately offer Butler a fully guaranteed max contract as well as the opportunity to play alongside two of the very best players in the NBA.
The Lakers have been fairly transparent about their desire to land a third star, in spite of the fact that they have almost no depth and would have to sign fillers to reach the roster minimum in the event that they do sign Butler. Kawhi Leonard is the ideal third star, but Butler wouldn't be a bad backup plan.
Still, the salary complications that teams like the Heat and Houston Rockets face in trying to bring Butler to their respective franchises could give the Lakers an edge.
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