Jimmy Butler wants to get out of Minnesota, but apparently, the Timberwolves don’t believe they have to move the All-Star guard. Despite Butler submitting a trade request to the team earlier this week — complete with a list of teams where he’d like to go — reports out of Minnesota were that the organization had some reservations on getting rid of him.
Now, it appears the Timberwolves don’t just have reservations, they straight up have no plans to let him go. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Minnesota is shutting down phone calls from opposing teams that are looking to inquire about a trade, as the Wolves plan on keeping Butler around.
Story filed to ESPN: Rival executives lobbing calls to Minnesota’s front office on possibility of trading for Jimmy Butler are getting inquires shut down. Minnesota is telling teams that Butler’s an elite player and franchise intends to keep him.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2018
This might just be a matter of Minnesota being unhappy with the offers they have gotten from opposing teams at this point, but if rival teams are calling and straight up being told “we’re keeping him,” that’s a completely different animal. In that case, Tom Thibodeau and co. legitimately believe they can resolve whatever tension exists between Butler and those with whom he has beef, with Wojnarowski writing that the feeling is that Minnesota isn’t trying to improve the offers they’ve received so far.
“Often that’s an opening message that’s followed with a query on what a prospective trade partner might offer in a hypothetical deal, but that hasn’t been the case in the Timberwolves dialogue with teams late this week, sources said,” Wojnarowski wrote on ESPN.com.
Is that a smart move? Who knows. Butler’s main issue reportedly isn’t with his teammates, but rather, with how contract negotiations between himself and the Timberwolves went down this past summer. Seeing as how Butler can opt out of his deal and hit the unrestricted free agent market next summer, this is a gigantic (and, some might say, unnecessary) risk by Minnesota.
