The Rockets owner wants Jimmy Butler. Here's how to make it happen.

New Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta admits he walked into a nearly perfect basketball situation when he purchased the franchise in September 2017, after general manager Daryl Morey traded for Chris Paul and signed P.J. Tucker in free agency.

But is there a move that would turn this already constructed NBA juggernaut into Fertitta’s basketball powerhouse? In an SB Nation feature on the Rockets’ billionaire owner written by Steven Godfrey, Fertitta hints toward one:

What’s more, Fertitta has yet to make a move that would make them his Rockets.

“Like what?” he asks.

Like if Kevin Durant elects to leave Golden State next year, maybe that?

“Ah. Like Jimmy Butler,” he says.

Butler requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sept. 20, and nearly three weeks later, Wolves president Tom Thibodeau has made no meaningful progress on a deal despite numerous reported parties interested. Butler has now returned to Minnesota, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski, reasserting to Wolves management his desire to be traded.

The Rockets have been one of the teams interested in trading for the two-way all-star, who is a Houston native. The Rockets don’t have the sexiest draft picks, nor the youngest, promising prospects Minnesota wants to recoup in a Butler trade. Does that mean Houston is out of the running?

“It’s not impossible,” Fertitta told Godfrey. “Nothing’s impossible.”

In a sense, yes, they do.

Houston lost Luc Mbah a Moute to the Clippers and Trevor Ariza to the Suns in free agency this summer. Those were two of their three best perimeter defenders, who were replaced with Carmelo Anthony — a scorer by trade who has been a turnstile defensively most of the latter half of his career. Houston is banking on an offensive resurgence from their newest acquisition to offset his defensive shortcomings.

The Rockets made other moves this offseason, too: They added depth at the point guard slot by signing Michael Carter-Williams, then shipped Ryan Anderson to Phoenix for Marquese Chriss and Brandon Knight. Houston also signed three-and-D forward James Ennis, who projects to serve that Mbah a Moute type of role.

Butler could push the Rockets over the edge. He can defend multiple positions and make plays with and without the ball. He’d fit seamlessly alongside Paul, Anthony, James Harden, and Clint Capela — a playmaker who wants to win, by any means necessary.

Fertitta told Godfrey the Rockets already believe they’re on the same level as the Warriors, that their current additions over the summer made them better than the team that set a franchise record 65 wins last season. After all, Houston was a Chris Paul hamstring injury away from eliminating them in the Western Conference Finals last season.

So does it make sense, from the ownership perspective, to cave to Minnesota’s reported excessive trade demands to improve a team already built to contend for a championship?

“We would love to see Jimmy come home to Houston,” Fertitta told Godfrey. “It’s not a financial decision, it’s an assets decision on our part. We’ve got a great basketball team. We think we’re as good as anybody in the league. We’re not going to give up unreasonable assets, to break up this team, to get Jimmy Butler. But we would love to have him.”

So what would it take from the Rockets to land Butler?

If Houston is going to pull off a deal, it’s going to start here: Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker. Gordon is the Rockets’ super scorer off the bench, the Sixth Man of the Year of 2017. Tucker is Houston’s fiercest defender, but they’ll get one back in Butler.

The Wolves will also want to free themselves of the remaining three years worth $45 million on Gorgui Dieng’s contract.

In one potential scenario, The Kings could take on Dieng’s contract so long as it lands them a pick in a loaded 2019 NBA Draft class where they do not have one. This scenario costs Houston Gordon, Tucker, and young forward Zhou Qi. It also costs them draft picks in 2019 (Sacramento), 2021, and 2023 (Minnesota).

The Rockets could also wait until next summer

If the Wolves opt to keep Butler or trade him elsewhere, the all-star has a player option on the 2019-20 season of his contract. He’s considered a 2019 free agent because he’s widely expected to decline that option and seek a max contract next summer.

But Butler could also do what Chris Paul did last summer with the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead of declining his own player option to become a free agent, Paul opted into the final year of his contract with the understanding the Clippers brass would trade him to Houston. He then re-signed with the Rockets this summer: four years, $160 million.

The Rockets have no cap space to sign free agents outside of their mid-level exception and the veteran’s minimum. But the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents. If Butler wants to go to the Rockets, he cannot become a true free agent and must go the Chris Paul route.

This plan could come in handy even if the Rockets aren’t Butler’s initial trade destination.

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Other teams will have offers to make and the Miami Heat have better young players and better draft picks to offer. Thibodeau isn’t in any rush to complete a deal and he’s going to hold out and find the best available package for the All-Star he can get whether it’s Miami or elsewhere.

But no matter where Butler lands there are no reassurances he’ll re-sign, with just one year remaining on his deal. And like Fertitta told our own Godfrey:

“It’s not impossible. Nothing’s impossible.”

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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/10/9/17955622/jimmy-butler-trade-rockets-options-owner-tilman-fertitta