Jimmy Butler seeking trade to Nets, Clippers or Knicks

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler is requesting a trade, and his three preferred destinations are the Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers and New York Knicks, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Butler can be a free agent in July, and those three teams have the max salary space to sign him without giving up assets in a trade.

He informed Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau of the request during a meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles, sources said. Minnesota has shown no inclination to immediately honor the request.

The Athletic first reported Butler's trade request.

The Thibodeau-Butler meeting was expected to be a serious conversation on the franchise's fragile state, sources said. Now Butler appears to be looking for a way out of Minnesota.

The coach-player relationship has been largely strong since the Chicago Bulls drafted Butler in 2011, but Butler's partnership with young star Karl-Anthony Towns has been strained and could have been an obstacle for the Timberwolves' ability to sign Butler to a new contract next summer, league sources said.

Minnesota can offer Butler a five-year, $189.7 million max contract, with a max deal elsewhere worth four years, $140.6 million. The Timberwolves are negotiating a rookie extension with Towns that could be completed before the start of the season.

In 2017, the Timberwolves traded for Butler, sending Chicago a package of Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and a No. 7 overall pick that turned into Lauri Markkanen.