Everything that led to Jimmy Butler getting traded to the Philadelphia 76ers

When the Minnesota Timberwolves first landed Jimmy Butler to team up with Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and, eventually, Jeff Teague, there was talk that the NBA had a new future superteam to deal with.

And Minnesota showed enormous promise in the 2017-18 season, Butler’s first and only with the Wolves. Minnesota finished with 47 wins, but almost assuredly would have hit 50 and won the No. 3 seed in the West had Butler not been injured in late February. Though there were warning signs of unstable chemistry and stalled Andrew Wiggins development, the Towns-Butler partnership looked like a powerhouse that would change the West.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have fired head coach Tom Thibodeau midway through a tumultuous season, the team announced on Sunday.

The firing was first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports former Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is a serious candidate for Thibodeau’s replacement, though assistant coach Ryan Saunders will be the interim coach for the remainder of the 2018-19 season.

Jimmy Butler is already taking exception to his role on the 76ers, less than two months after the trade that sent him to Philadelphia. Butler has reportedly been vocal about his distaste for how he’s being used in Philly’s offense, including a tense interaction with head coach Brett Brown during a recent film session, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Butler has reportedly met with Brown and Sixers GM Elton Brand about his offensive role, per ESPN. The All-Star prefers to be at the controls of a spread pick-and-roll system instead of just another cog in a more egalitarian offensive system that already features a dominant post scorer in Joel Embiid and a gifted passer, but non-shooter, in Ben Simmons.

Late in summer 2016, Joel Embiid was fuming. According to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, Embiid was stomping around the Sixers’ old practice facility, at one point chucking a basketball across the hardwood. He had a workout scheduled with a marquee college big man prospect, but it got cancelled at the last minute. Instead, he had to face off against a 37-year old Elton Brand who was on the last legs of his NBA career.

”The night before, I’d been watching Shaq’s highlights, and I wanted the competition,” Embiid told Arnovitz. “I needed someone to go back at me.”

After a long, public bout between a disgruntled Jimmy Butler and virtually everyone else on the Timberwolves — from young stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, to coach and president Tom Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden — Minnesota has finally agreed to trade the all-star to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In exchange, the Wolves will receive 3-and-D wing Robert Covington, versatile stretch four Dario Saric, and backup Jerryd Bayless. They will also surrender injured big man Justin Patton and receive a 2022 second-round pick as part of the trade.

Before he was finally traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick, Jimmy Butler was ruining the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season.

You might say that it’s hard to blame Butler for the Wolves’ 30-point loss to the Blazers on Sunday since Butler didn’t play. But that’s precisely an example of how Butler was ruining the Wolves. He didn’t play a second because he was trying to ruin the Wolves to force them into trading him, as much as he wants to deny it. And the Wolves — or coach-president Tom Thibodeau, at least — were playing along.

The Jimmy Butler saga is over; or maybe it’s just beginning.

The Timberwolves have agreed to send their disgruntled All-Star to the Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, for a package that includes Robert Covington and Dario Saric. The deal adds a third star to the duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, making Philadelphia a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.

Jimmy Butler refuted a report that he’s sitting out the Timberwolves’ Wednesday night game against the Jazz as a tactic to get traded out of Minnesota faster. Instead, he told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols he’s sitting Wednesday’s game because “my body is hurting” after he missed all of training camp.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski reported earlier Wednesday that Butler would sit out the Jazz game because he had not been traded, and hinted Wolves’ All-Star could be out even longer.

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ dramatic start to the season became even more comical in a 125-95 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. The Wolves scored all of 38 first-half points in a 25-point first-half deficit that never got even a little bit better. This was ugly through and through.

This miserable loss only adds to the Timberwolves’ long-lasting soap opera, where Jimmy Butler has requested a trade, caused a scene in practice, played the front office into a self-sabotaging spiral, and watched it burn as he’s forced to suit up each night. Management reportedly not come close to dealing him since talks with the Heat two weeks ago, though the struggling Rockets have upped their offer.

Jimmy Butler was met with a helping of boos in his first game at home since he requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The only person met with a worse roar from his own fans was head coach Tom Thibodeau, who has reportedly been in dispute with the rest of the front office on whether or not to grant Butler’s trade desire.

It’s a mess in the Midwest that somehow turned into Butler receiving MVP chants by the second quarter? It’s confusing times.

Jimmy Butler has requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. The star met with head coach Tom Thibodeau in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and reportedly gave a list of desired destinations that, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, includes the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.

Butler’s contract ends at the end of this season, meaning teams will be hesitant to move pieces for him unless they receive a guarantee that he’s more than just a rental. It’s in Minnesota’s best interest to field pitches from L.A., New York and Brooklyn, since they’re likely to put in top offers, but it’s far to early to rule out a fourth team swooping into play.