Jimmy Butler is set to meet with Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden on Monday for an ominous discussion about his future, according to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Butler’s looming free agency in the summer of 2019 has been an elephant in the room, and with just a week before training camp, Butler reportedly wants to deliver some hard truths.
Jimmy Butler’s meeting with the Timberwolves will at least put all the cards on the table
Butler’s impending meeting with Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden is ominous, but at least they’re addressing his displeasure now rather than later.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
“Whatever needs to be communicated ... will be,” a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Despite making the playoffs for the first time since 2004, the Timberwolves were speculated to be an unhappy lot. On Howard Beck’s podcast, Jamal Crawford, who left the team in the offseason, said, “For me, it just wasn’t a happy environment. It just wasn’t happy.”
That’s added to the sense of uncertainty in Butler’s future.
Minnesota traded for Butler during the 2017 NBA Draft, parting ways with Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the pick that became Lauri Markkanen. The All-Star’s pairing with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves to their first playoff appearance since 2004. But the team underwhelmed in the regular season, and then lost in the opening round of the postseason to the Houston Rockets, 4-1.
Since then it’s been unclear if Butler is in this for the long-haul or if the 29-year-old is ready to ring-chase right now. This meeting may lead to his decision to request for a trade before the season even starts.
Why is this meeting happening in September?
Butler and Thibodeau have a relationship that stems back to their time with the Chicago Bulls. In good nature, it seems the two want to have this conversation ahead of the trade deadline before tensions get heated and clock starts ticking down.
There’s a month before the regular season begins, too, which gives time and space for what’s spoken at the meeting to come to fruition. If Butler requests roster movement, that can happen before Game 1. If the talks go sour, that also gives time for Minnesota to move Butler before the start of the season and save both sides from the inevitable break-up.
What could come from this meeting?
Butler’s desire to win a title is apparent — and Minnesota can’t bring him one right now as currently constructed. With his contract set to expire, it’s likely the franchise’s lone veteran star wants to know what the long-term plan is. If his vision doesn’t align with the team’s, that could make his future that much clearer.
Butler’s situation also dovetails with Karl-Anthony Towns’. The young Timberwolves star is up for an extension, and his relationship with Butler is “strained,” according to Wojnarowski. The relationship between the two could determine both of their futures in Minnesota.
The conversation could turn the other way, too. Butler rejected a contract extension this summer that both parties knew would never come to be. He’s due to make more money if he either signs the extension this season, or signs with another team next summer. Progression towards that extension could come from Monday’s conversation, too.
Monday’s meeting bring no guarantees, but it’s better that this is happening now rather than later.
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