Minnesota Timberwolves: Jimmy Butler won’t report to work … or will he?

Minnesota Timberwolves media day is on Monday, and nobody knows what to expect. Will Jimmy Butler show up or stay home? Or will he be traded before then?

Somehow, this week became crazier by the day for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the ongoing saga between the front office and All-Star Jimmy Butler.

First, the Wolves-Butler meeting was moved from Monday in Minneapolis to Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Then, Butler made his trade request official in Tuesday’s meeting and reportedly gave the Timberwolves a list of three teams that he’d like to be traded to, with the Los Angeles Clippers at the top of the list.

Word got out that the Wolves may not grant Butler’s wish, a rumor that was then confirmed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. That was followed by a strange report that Tom Thibodeau would rather quit than go through a rebuilding process.

Thus far, this weekend has been an odd mishmash of will-they or won’t-they rumors surrounding a trade and a will-he or won’t-he situation regarding whether or not Butler will show up to media day on Monday.

Here’s what Wojnarowski said late on Friday.

That has been followed by some scrambling on the Wolves side regarding the front office and ownership being on the same page.

It’s an embarrassing look, to be sure. And while undercutting the front office isn’t a positive thing to do as an owner, the alternative is letting Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden further muddy the situation.

The question of whether or not Butler will report on Monday is out there now, too.

Jon Krawczynski’s report was disputed by Frank Isola a bit later in the day.

For what it’s worth, Jon K.’s reporting is consitently reliable in the Twin Cities, and it’s almost certain he has the correct scoop here. But we can all hope for things to get even weirder, can’t we?

Krawczynski has also reported that the Wolves are likely waiving the potential fine for skipping media day, assuming that he indeed has permission to no-show.

Also, from Jon, regarding the possibility that there is a trade over the weekend:

So, how much weirder could things get on Saturday and Sunday? There have yet to be any concrete rumors regarding what the Wolves would seek in return for Butler if they were indeed to trade him, but they certainly don’t have much in the way of leverage.

We’ll keep an eye on this for you, and if anything breaks throughout the weekend, we’ll have immediate reaction here at Dunking With Wolves.