As if things couldn’t get any weirder, it sounds like All-Star Jimmy Butler may actually return to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves if he isn’t traded soon.
The last two weeks have ticked by with the understanding that Jimmy Butler will never again don a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey.
Not so fast, apparently.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Butler “has expressed no intentions of missing regular-season games if he’s healthy to play”. Technically, he’s still rehabbing his wrist from an offseason clean-up procedure and has been working out at the Timbrewolves’ facility in Minneapolis while the team has been at training camp and playing preseason games on the West Coast.
If you’re keeping track, we’ve gone from the initial trade request, to the Wolves’ refusal to even talk trade, to an initial review of potential trade matches, to finding out that nearly half the league was interested in talking trade, to a near-three-team trade, to the apparent narrowing of the field to just Miami and Houston, to …
Well, what’s next? It’s anyone’s guess, really.
Pat Riley and the Miami Heat have apparently put all their cards on the table and are pushing hard, according to the above-linked piece from ESPN’s Wojnarowski late on Wednesday night. But the Wolves aren’t budging.
According to Woj, they are asking for Josh Richardson, Bam Adebayo, and a first-round pick — a reasonable ask, and a haul that Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden are right to hold out for.
On Thursday, Riley allegedly told the Thibodeau to get his house in order prior to hanging up the phone on him. Clearly, it’s an attempt at a power-play by Riley, as the Wolves, at least theoretically, don’t have much in the way of leverage.
But the Wolves are apparently working to call the bluff of the Heat, the Rockets, and any other team that is reportedly interested by encouraging Butler to report to the team. At this point, it appears as though the absence of Butler during the regular season would come without him being paid his salary, and outside of the awkwardness of his presence and potential for injury, he would certainly be incentivized to show up at Mayo Clinic Square.
The whole thing is bonkers, and it doesn’t appear to be getting any less weird. But something which seemed to be an absolute impossibility as recently as a week ago appears to legitimately be on the table.
Don’t toss out that Jimmy Butler Timberwolves jersey just yet.