Brooklyn Nets: 5 free agents from 2nd tier to watch

Butler checks a lot of boxes, but …

Jimmy Butler has a player option for 2019-20 that he is extremely likely to decline in order to pursue a max deal in free agency.

In many ways, Butler is a player whose career trajectory mirrors the Brooklyn Nets’ ascent over the past three seasons.

Butler was the last pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls and averaged less than 10 minutes per game as a rookie, earning a larger reserve role in his second season and becoming a full-time starter in his third.

In his fourth year in the NBA, Butler exploded onto the scene as a star, earning Most Improved Player honors in 2014-15 and becoming an elite two-way player capable of getting you 20-plus points per game while playing lockdown defense at the other end.

He’s a two-time All-NBA selection and has been named to the All-Defensive team four times.

But Butler comes with some caveats. He’ll be 30 before training camp opens next season and he’s not exactly been a picture of durability.

He’s also got a lot of mileage on his tires after playing nearly 38 minutes per game from 2013-14 through 2017-18, with four of those seasons under grind-the-starters-to-death coach Tom Thibodeau.

Butler has topped 70 games in a season just once in the last six seasons and his departures from Chicago and the Minnesota Timberwolves were filled with acrimony and a lot of scorched earth.

While he’s by all accounts been a solid citizen since being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers last November, there are still rumblings that the offensive system doesn’t suit his tastes and that he’s not entirely happy in a secondary role behind franchise cornerstones Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

Butler would be an upgrade from a talent standpoint, but there are questions about the impact he could have on a franchise’s culture.