Two days after word broke that Jimmy Butler would be on the move to Philadelphia, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau addressed the media on Monday concerning the decision to send his best player elsewhere. Given the backdrop of a trade request and all kinds of shenanigans, it certainly wasn’t a surprise to see Butler dealt but, given that Philadelphia was not the most rumored destination, Thibodeau’s public comments were particularly interesting to monitor.
In typical Thibodeau fashion, however, there wasn’t a great deal of insight, aside from the notion that patience drove the team’s decision-making.
“We had to be patient and we felt we had a few offers that were good,” said Thibodeau, via ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “So once we got the offers to the point where we felt good about what the offers were, we thought this was the best one for us, so we executed it.”
In some ways, it would make sense to be patient, particularly given that Thibodeau publicly acknowledged what was already reported in that Minnesota had multiple suitors for Butler. Still, the situation was deteriorating, seemingly by the day, and that confluence of events culminated in a five-game losing streak that may have been the last straw from Thibodeau.
It will be difficult to fully evaluate Minnesota’s ultimate decision to take a “win now” package from the Sixers, as the integration of Dario Saric and Robert Covington into Thibodeau’s system may not be seamless. Still, that won’t stop discussions and arguments concern whether the Wolves got enough and, in short, whether the team waited too long (and allowed too much to happen) in allowing Butler’s trade value to drop.
For now, this saga is over and the Wolves must attempt to salvage a season that started with lofty expectations. The actions of Thibodeau and the decision-makers in Minnesota will be up for debate, though, and the desire to “patient” with Butler isn’t met with unanimous approval.
