NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers Eye Jimmy Butler trade; LeBron James, Kevin Love target Young SG

By Mitch de Leon
NBA: NBA Draft Lottery
May 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft.  Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting down to business as the LeBron James squad looks for more basketball stars to improve their roster. With the Golden State Warriors signing Kevin Durant, the possibility of beating Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in the next NBA season becomes a daunting task for the Kyrie Irving group. Hence, the Cleveland Cavaliers are said to be exhausting all their efforts to seal the deal in the Jimmy Butler trade with the Chicago Bulls.

The 2015-16 NBA season brought completely different results for the two teams. While the Cleveland Cavaliers triumphed in the NBA Finals, beating the Golden State Warriors in Game 7, the Chicago Bulls shockingly failed to be part of the playoffs. The failure to excel in the past season was further highlighted given the powerful roster of the team which is composed of Pau Gasol, who is now with the San Antonio Spurs; Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, who landed deals with the New York Knicks; and of course, Jimmy Butler.

Despite the moves made this NBA offseason, the Chicago Bulls have yet to actually secure the job of Jimmy Butler. As with the recent comments of the front office, no member of the roster is considered an "untouchable" - a description they only confidently attributed to the great Michael Jordan. With this in mind, several NBA teams are still openly pursuing a Jimmy Butler trade.

One of the most aggressive teams in the Jimmy Butler trade talks is the Cleveland Cavaliers. With LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love as frontliners in convincing the Chicago Bulls star to move, fans of the now Dwyane Wade squad fear that the young shooting guard might actually move. For those who question how a Jimmy Butler trade will allow all the stars in the Cleveland Cavaliers roster to shine, it looks like the 26-year-old basketball player is open to switching positions to help his team win.

"There are a lot of great players on this roster, but more than just basketball players, I get to learn a lot more about them off the court," shared Jimmy Butler when asked of his role in Team USA in their quest for a gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He added "[W]ho they are as people and their families, and how they act, their personalities. I think that's been my favorite part of this whole journey, just getting to know the guys that I go up against every year."

He expressed the same sentiments when he related his encounter with Dwyane Wade who shocked the NBA when he moved from the Miami Heat to the Chicago Bulls this offseason.

Butler shared, "Just what we can do if we were to play basketball together. I said look man, I'm okay with whatever role you want me to play. But we can win games if you're here with us. So that's basically how it went. I was telling him, of all the things that have been said, I'm here to win. I don't care what role I'm supposed to play, whose team it is, you come here, we'll win games."

At the moment, none of the parties have commented on the possibility of a Jimmy Butler trade from the Chicago Bulls to the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, fans are reeling over the idea of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love playing alongside Jimmy Butler. Will this combination be enough though to stop the Golden State Warriors which now have Kevin Durant as a weapon in addition to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green?

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