Butler’s beef
A months of rumors and discontent, four-time All-Star announced he was demanding a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had a muchpublicized meeting with head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau to clear the air a few days ago but was unable to come to an agreement. Butler has listed his Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers, teams that have enough cap space to absorb a max contract.
Butler was acquired by the Timberwolves from in exchange for promising young guards Kris Dunn and Zach Lavine and a high draft pick that turned into forward Lauri Markannen. Butler’s arrival was, at the time, was seen as a godsend to a franchise stat sheets was supposed to turn the corner for this beleaguered team and it did.
the playoffs. They were of course soundly beaten impact was so that the team had a win-loss record
Butler rejected a maximum salary extension from - lion. At that time, everyone thought that he rejected the offer knowing that he could command a salary free agency next season. Now we know that he wasn’t even open to staying with the Wolves and the reasons behind it.
Butler is demanding a trade simply because he is “sick and - tude of his fellow, albeit younger stars namely Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony hard-charging attitude of Butler. Wiggins and KAT have prodigious talent but their defensive efforts leave much to be desired. Towns is an ascendant Wiggins, meanwhile, is a terrible defensive player and stagnated in his fourth season. The problem extension less than a year ago.
For the Timberwolves, losing Butler means that they will be back where they started, a young team with KAT and Wiggins at the core and no positive prospects in the near term. This may also signal the start of another team implosion since Thibodeau is also charged with personnel movements. Coach Thibs surrendered a lot of young assets since he wanted Butler for the maximum defensive effort he brought every game day.
Minnesota can still salvage the situation since they can opt to hold on to Butler and work out the issues between him and the younger superstars. But that of course is a big risk since they may eventually lose him for nothing in free agency. Everyone loses if Butler leaves.