The Jimmy Butler saga in Minnesota will apparently drag out into the regular season as it appears Tom Thibodeau has won for the moment. The disgruntled star has spent the past month telling anybody who will listen that he wants the Timberwolves to trade him. Thibodeau, however, has reportedly dragged his feet on it and has tried to convince Butler to return multiple times.
Thibodeau was originally unsuccessful but after a dramatic return to practice on Wednesday it appears that Butler will remain with the team for now. Thibodeau told media on Sunday that he expects Butler to play in the season opener and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that trade talks for Butler have been mostly dead. For now, Thibs wins.
Talking to media following practice, Thibs confirmed Jimmy Butler practiced today and expects him to play on Wednesday. #Twolves
— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) October 14, 2018
Minnesota's Jimmy Butler practiced again Sunday and is expected to play in season opener in San Antonio on Wednesday. Heat/Timberwolves talks have been dead, for now, league sources said.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 14, 2018
We now cut live to Thibs sitting in his office when he realized that he was able to keep Butler despite all the drama that is currently surrounding the team he has built.
The Wolves have Butler back and from a basketball standpoint this should be good for them. He’s one of their best players — definitely their best defensive player — and Minnesota was at its best last season when Butler was on the floor. The problem is there’s a massive feud between Butler and growing star Karl-Anthony Towns that doesn’t appear to be getting fixed anytime soon. Butler and Towns apparently went after each other in practice on Wednesday, but the details of what exactly went down are shaky. Butler says Towns went after him while reports say Butler went for Towns first.
In the one preseason game Minnesota has played since Butler’s “return” to the team they were embarrassed on a level that had Towns and Derrick Rose showing open frustration postgame. There’s a lot of concern about how the Wolves will handle all this as they enter games that start to count. Talent wins out in the NBA, but internal drama can make even the most talented teams spiral out of control. Butler, to his credit, appears to be done with antics to try and push a trade along. He said after practice that he’s just going to try and win basketball games. We’ll see how long that lasts.
https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1051537364131155975
As for how he expects to be received if he’s still on the team by the home opener on Friday, Butler isn’t worried about getting boos from the home crowd.
Asked Jimmy Butler if he expects negative reaction on Friday (if he’s still here):
“Sure. Go ahead, boo me. It ain’t going to change the way I play. That’s going to make me smile more. So please, come on with it.”— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) October 14, 2018
It’s honestly stunning that Butler is going to play a single game for the Wolves. Thibodeau is completely ignoring the drama and damage this is causing the team just so he can hold on to one of his favorite players. He’s being not only a poor GM in this process, but a poor coach as well to let this fracture the locker room. A competent organization would have never let this reach this point, but, well, that’s why they’re the Timberwolves.
