The Minnesota Timberwolves finally broke their playoff drought of 13 seasons last season. They were able to do it due to the addition of Jimmy Butler and the improved play of Karl-Anthony Towns.
Now, Butler wants out of Minnesota and has formally requested a trade. He provided a list of three teams that he would consider signing an extension with if they were to trade for him, which included the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and New York Knicks.
Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler has three preferred destinations for a trade, league sources tell ESPN: The Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. Those three teams have max cap space to sign Butler as a free agent in July.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 19, 2018
It’s a complicated situation because Butler is almost certainly going to leave the Timberwolves next summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. While it remains unknown where he will go, there have been rumblings that he is interested in teaming up with Kyrie Irving and the Knicks and Nets have both been mentioned earlier in the summer.
All three of the teams on Butler’s list have room to sign Butler and Irving next summer.
To make matters worse for Minnesota, Tom Thibodeau is reportedly not interested in trading Butler and wants to make the playoffs this season.
As Minnesota's Jimmy Butler prefers a deal to destinations including the Clippers, Knicks and Nets, Tom Thibodeau has no interest in trading him — for now. ESPN story: https://t.co/krC560ZX6d
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 19, 2018
Holding onto Butler for too long could further damage his trade value and not getting a decent return for him will severely damage the trajectory of the Timberwolves as a franchise. They were very reliant on Butler’s contributions just to barely make the playoffs and taking him out of the picture and replacing him with subpar pieces could yield disappointing results.
The reason why this all ties together is that Towns said that he won’t sign an extension until the Butler situation is resolved.
From our own @ShamsCharania, latest on Jimmy Butler seriously contemplating Minnesota future. pic.twitter.com/bi0cV3GXTE
— Stadium (@Stadium) September 17, 2018
With all of that being said, let’s take a look at three reasons why he should leave the Minnesota Timberwolves:
Next Up: Reason 3
