Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 greatest players of all-time

• One season with Timberwolves (2017-present)
• Averaging 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game
• 1x All-Star with Timberwolves

This is another example of a player that is extremely tough to rank on a list of the best 30 Timberwolves players of all-time.

In terms of where he stands in his career and what he’s done so far, he’s probably the second-best Wolf ever. But we only have one year of Jimmy Butler in a Timberwolves uniform, and in that season he was robbed of 23 regular season games and a healthy playoff appearance due to injury.

But even with an incomplete grade, Jimmy G. Buckets is more than worth of the No. 5 slot on this list.

Butler was the engine that made the Timberwolves go during the 2017-18 campaign, and while Karl-Anthony Towns was also an All-Star, the Wolves were only a truly dangerous playoff contender with Butler on the court — on both end of the floor, but particularly on defense.

Butler was again named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Third Team, and was in the (admittedly early) MVP conversation around the holidays as the Wolves hung around the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

The Timberwolves All-Star will turn 29 years old during the 2018-19 campaign, and he’ll have the season to prove his health. He only has one more year under contract in Minnesota and there are plenty of rumors flying about his future and whether or not his ideal scenario includes the Timberwolves.

He’ll surely receive a maximum contract next summer, but it’s important to remember that this a 29-year-old coming off a significant knee injury as well. That said, it’s clearly in the Timberwolves’ best interest to try to keep Butler.

Will they be able to do that? Stay tuned.