And former NFL star-turned-sports-analyst Cris Carter has revealed why he thinks Butler doesn’t want to join the Lakers.
Butler put in a trade request from the Minnesota Timberwolves after holding showdown talks with Tom Thibodeau earlier this week.
The Timberwolves are reportedly not willing to listen to any trade offers for Butler yet as they want to try and work things out with training camp only days away.
But Butler has reportedly made it clear he wants to join the LA Clippers, New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets.
They are the three teams he is said to be willing to sign a max contract extension with if he is traded.
The 29-year-old had been linked with a move to the Lakers over the summer, but the report stating they are not one of his preferred teams has led to many questions as to why.
The Lakers signed LeBron James in the summer and now have the cap space available to sign a max-contract salary star next year.
But Carter believes the presence of James on the Lakers means Butler will not be able to get his wish at being the main main.
“He wasn’t going to have a chance to play with LeBron,” Carter said on First Things First.
“The Lakers have more options so Jimmy knows.
“He also wants to have influence. If he said he wants to go to the Lakers, he knows he is going to have no influence on who’s going to be on that roster.
“If he happens to go to New York, he might be able to influence Kyrie [Irving] to come there or another free agent.
“If he goes to the Clippers they have the cap space that he can have the influence on who’s going to go there.
“So there’s a reason why the Lakers were not on his list. Jimmy Butler is not a dumb guy.”
Butler joined the Timberwolves in 2017 after being traded away by the Chicago Bulls.
However, the four-time NBA All-Star reportedly came to blows with Minnesota’s young stars such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.