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What is going on in Minnesota? After trading away Zach Lavine, Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn for an All-Star in Jimmy Butler, we heard noises throughout last season regarding Jimmy and the younger Wolves butting heads.
Late last week saw Butler request a trade from the Timberwolves, a development which didn’t come as a surprise to many. As we saw in Chicago, Butler has adopted the ‘go hard or go home’ mentality and anyone who doesn’t agree is the enemy, even if they are on the same team.
Andrew Wiggins someone who many speculate that he doesn’t love the game of basketball, especially after securing the bag. Last season saw Wiggins have a career low season which is partly due to playing behind Karl Anthony-Towns and Butler, however, he still attempted the most shots on the team.
The Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor is hoping to construct a deal to send the 29-year-old where ever he can get the best return to aid the Timberwolves to remain a playoff team.
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
So where will Butler go? There are several teams looking to acquire the All-Star scenarios, but I’ve got my mind set on him getting sent to Toronto. This would make sense for both teams in this scenario and the package would look something like:
Minnesota receive Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. Toronto receive Jimmy Butler and Gorgui Dieng or Jeff Teague.
Other teams such as the Miami Heat have been aggressive in their attempts to acquire Butler.
The other uncertainty in Minnesota is what will happen with the President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. With last summer’s trade to acquire Butler going pear-shaped, Thibodeau gave up a promising young player in Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn was in contention for the most improved player award, and we haven’t seen Zach Lavine in full flight yet.
The Timberwolves also just got into the playoffs, despite having Butler for most of the season and first-time All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns. So what happens to Thibs is another mystery to add to the Minnesota circus.
The Timberwolves get an All-Star to run the point in Kyle Lowry and a good defensive big who can shoot the three in Serge Ibaka, and Toronto risk it all to get Butler. If both Kawhi and Jimmy leave in free agency, then the Raptors enter a rebuilding phase which looked to be the plan after getting constantly beat down by LeBron James.
Swingman Jimmy Butler during his time with the Bulls. (Photo: AAP)
The Timberwolves have also forked out all the cash in their wallet and extended Karl Anthony-Towns to a 5-year $190m extension. What doesn’t make sense is why they would fork out an absurd amount of money after experiencing the horrors from the Wiggins extension, and Towns can’t leave in restricted free-agency unless the Wolves let him go, which would not happen.
This just looks like a disaster waiting to happen and the Timberwolves are starting to look like an incompetent franchise yet again.
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