Why isn’t Jimmy Butler playing?

The Minnesota Timberwolves began their preseason over the weekend, and to no one’s surprise, Jimmy Butler was nowhere to be found. Butler still has not been traded — what an intractable two years months weeks this has been! — and he’s camping out solo while his future is resolved by the Wolves.

Make no mistake, though: this is deeply weird.

Players — especially star players for good teams — don’t typically go AWOL when they make a trade request. Franchises can decide to send players home, as the Phoenix Suns notably did with Eric Bledsoe last fall. That situation was different, though: the Suns were going nowhere fast, had lost two of their first three games by more than 40 points, and had already fired their head coach. It was the start of another tanking season, and Bledsoe publicly declared he wanted no part of it.

Despite Bledsoe’s efforts to cover up his message (and avoid a fine), the Suns agreed they should find him a new home and that there was no use having him continue to suit up or sit on the bench in a suit. So, the Suns sent Bledsoe home until working out a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The situation is different in Minnesota. Before Butler’s trade request, the Timberwolves were expected to at least return to the NBA playoffs. Butler is unhappy because of personality conflicts with other Timberwolves, and he plans to use his earned free agency in 2019 to find a new home. He told the Wolves braintrust as much a few weeks ago, and that he’d like to be traded to certain teams to be able to maximize his earnings.

That request and pursuit is well within Butler’s rights, but he is under contract with the Timberwolves this season. If the Timberwolves decide to patiently survey the market, they have every right to demand he fulfill his contract in the interim. That the Wolves haven’t gone that route speaks to how broken the internal power structure has become.

It would be foolish for Tom Thibodeau, coach and front office leader, to call Butler’s bluff and carry him on the roster all season, only to likely lose him in July 2019. There’s no sense in spitting into the wind. But there’s also no sense in rushing to trade him by Oct. 15 when the NBA trade deadline isn’t until Feb., 2019! Teams are almost assuredly trying to take advantage of the Wolves’ unrest and potential panic. It’s probably smart to let things calm down.

In the meantime, Butler should be playing. Carmelo Anthony played 50 games for the Denver Nuggets while the New York Knicks and then-New Jersey Nets quibbled over Masai Ujiri’s asking price. That was years ago, and most players asking for trades since then have been moved quickly in the offseason.

But those players’ requests didn’t come in late September. While we don’t know if Butler had previously made his request, the fact is that it’s up to the Wolves whether to honor it. Beyond that, Butler is getting paid a lot of money right now, and he’s getting paid to play basketball.

In a normal world, the only reason the Wolves should not demand Butler report to camp and get ready to participate in preseason would be if a trade was imminent or if Butler’s presence would hurt the team. There is no indication Thibodeau is planning to acquiesce quickly to other teams’ demands, and while Butler practicing with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins would certainly be awkward, there’s no indication the blood is bad enough to outweigh Butler’s prodigious gifts.

If there’s any chance Butler will be on the roster on opening night, he should be practicing with the team. The margin for error in the Western Conference is so thin as to practically be invisible. The Nuggets missed the playoffs with 46 wins last season. It’s probably going to be worse this season. Every win matters. If Butler can help the Timberwolves win games in October and perhaps November and December (depending on how long this drags on), those will count in the standings, just like losses with Butler MIA would.

The Timberwolves certainly aren’t so good that they can win 46, 47, 50 games without Butler or whatever player(s) Minnesota is able to get back in a trade for him. Unless the team will absolutely trade him before opening night, the Wolves should be preparing him to play on opening night.

Here’s the problem: because of how this process has played out, Thibodeau at this point demanding Butler report or face fines would set up a huge showdown. It would be a massive, attention-grabbing matter instead of the mundane reality of what NBA contracts require.

Why? Because Thibodeau has apparently continued to try to change Butler’s mind about seeking greener pastures. The narrative has already been baked — Thibodeau is being stubborn about trading Butler (hence Butler’s camp complaining about the Wolves’ high asking price) and forcing him to report would just reinforce that.

Butler’s camp could rightly fear that a demand to report would be the first step in dismissing Butler’s request entirely. And the reported battle lines within Minnesota are apparently between ownership and Thibodeau. Ownership, led by Glen Taylor (who is not exactly known for his deft handling of personnel matters), could rightfully fear that Thibodeau insisting that Butler fulfill his contract until a trade is made is a cover.

A cover for what? Perhaps Thibs continuing to try to change Butler’s mind or keeping him all year to make a deep playoff run before Thibodeau gets fired or at least stripped of power. Neither path is in the Timberwolves’ best long-term interest. Hence, ownership’s concern.

Neither path is in Butler’s best long-term interest, either. Thibodeau’s reported obstinateness has created a situation where both Butler and Timberwolves ownership would respond to an otherwise reasonable demand that Butler report by questioning Thibodeau’s motives. That could lead a skeptical Butler to refuse and force Thibodeau to fine him, or it could lead Wolves ownership to overall (and maybe fire) Thibodeau.

So why isn’t Jimmy Butler playing? Because the Wolves are really dysfunctional.

It’s not totally Thibodeau’s fault, though he is not absolved of blame. It’s not totally Glen Taylor’s fault, though he is not absolved of blame. It’s not totally Jimmy Butler fault’s, though he is not absolved of blame.

This highly toxic situation is fleeting (or should be). But barring a trade, there’s no quick exit route.