Written by Chris Barnwell at CBS Sports.com
There were reports that Jimmy Butler was trying to force a trade away from the Bulls earlier this week and one of the teams interested in his services were the Cavaliers. However, on Tuesday, a second report surfaced that Butler didn’t want to be traded and had told the Cavaliers that he couldn’t commit to them long term.
At first it seemed like reports were just conflicting, which is usually common around this time of the year with the draft and the free agency period looming. That said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday, Butler has been receiving word from Cavs players to avoid the reportedly a “volatile” situation in Cleveland, which could be why he was reluctant to give the Cavs a long term commitment. Here’s more from the Sun-Times:
No stranger to organizational dysfunction, Jimmy Butler was warned Tuesday night to stay away from the Cavaliers.
According to a Cleveland source close to the situation, several of the Cavaliers who had been prodding Butler to push for a trade from the Bulls the last five days were now warning him to stay away from a suddenly volatile situation.
The situation in Cleveland has gotten dire since their NBA Finals appearance. With David Griffin not being kept past his contract, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and LeBron James all being surrounded by rumors, and now this news about Butler, it’s painting a bad image for the Cavs organization. Dysfunction is all anybody can see and no one is sure what the future of the Cavs looks like at the moment.
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