With the Warriors core of superstars not going away any time soon, the rest of the NBA is scrambling to find a solution to beat Golden State. So far it has been a hectic offseason, with many teams attempting to facilitate big moves to shake up their lineups. Former All-Stars like Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Jrue Holiday, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague have all been linked to rumors that they will leave their current teams in free agency and solid starters like Rudy Gay, Serge Ibaka and George Hill are also slated to test the open market.
Most recently trade talks have begun swirling around two of the top players in the league, in Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and Indiana’s Paul George. There have been rumors about the Bulls shopping Butler since last season’s trade deadline, but the young star has now been linked to the Timberwolves, Celtics and even the Cavaliers. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that Butler, according to sources in Cleveland, had said he was willing to push the Bulls front office to trade him to Cleveland if necessary.
George has also been linked with a possible trade to Cleveland (the Trailblazers, Nuggets and Celtics also have rumored interest). However, since George only has once year left on his contract, trading for the four-time All-Star could be considered risky by some teams.
Bay Area News Group sports columnist Marcus Thompson told Murph & Mac Tuesday that the Warriors seemingly unstoppable success has caused teams to pursue crazier moves.
“This is what the Warriors have created,” Thompson said. “This massive desperation across the league. Everybody is looking at this space ship that’s hovering over the season, that’s going to destroy everybody. People are freaking out and it’s going to keep happening. Now you’re going to start seeing all kinds of alliances. Watch where Chris Paul ends up, I think that could be the second shoe to drop after the Paul George one. It’s going to be insane, we are never going to get an off day.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Thompson’s comments on the offseason craziness skip to the 8:36 mark.
