Getty Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler
The Minnesota Timberwolves are in no rush to move guard Jimmy Butler, which has seemingly been the case all along. As The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski revealed, the team is now prepared to start the season with Butler on their roster.
While this hasn’t changed the 29-year-old’s focus on being traded, it does make for an interesting situation. What will Butler’s stance be once the regular season begins? Will he even come around if still on the roster?
At the very least, we now know that the All-Star has spoken with a few of his teammates, and even had dinner with some as well. According to Krawczynski, Butler re-engaged a few players after the preseason opener and eventually began sending text messages of encouragement. Finally, he flew out to meet with some players for dinner in Los Angeles.
“After the preseason opener in Golden State on Sept. 28, Butler started to re-engage with some teammates, sources said.
Butler sent text messages of encouragement to players like Taj Gibson, Jeff Teague and rookie Josh Okogie, but did not travel with the team. He flew out to L.A. while the Wolves were there to face the Clippers and dined with several teammates.”
Timberwolves Showing No Signs of Rushing Deal
President and head coach Tom Thibodeau originally made it known he was interested in keeping Butler after the trade request came to light. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to persuade the guard to stick around and try to work things out with the Timberwolves.
To this point, Thibodeau has made it seem on the surface that he’s shifted his attention to working out a deal. As Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press revealed, Thibodeau stated the team is “trying to get something done.”
The only problem is that everytime a deal seemingly gets close, an issue arises. Just last week, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed Minnesota and the Miami Heat nearly had a deal done. The Timberwolves then chose to ask for more than the originally agreed-upon price, which led to the trade falling apart.
Based on the recent rumblings and run of news, there’s no end in sight to the Butler trade drama. In turn, he may need to figure out what things will look like if still on the Timberwolves at the start of the season.
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