Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 players that could be traded for Jimmy Butler

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 4-time All-Star Jimmy Butler hasn’t been traded yet, and rather than do our normal trade ideas for the superstar, we’re going to switch it around a bit and try and find the five best player that the Wolves could acquire in a Butler deal.

It’s important to note that the Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is adamant on Jimmy Butler being traded by the deadline. And we’re all for it, as long as the haul for Butler is better than a bench player and a draft pick.

Here’s a good source of how the Wolves and Butler are handling the situation moving forward:

"Via, Yahoo Sports “Three days before the start of the regular season, Taylor met with his disgruntled All-Star before practice, searching for some sort of understanding to calm the noise that has drowned out any sense of excitement for the upcoming season. In the meeting, Taylor and Butler came to an agreement, sources said: Taylor will continue to work diligently to find a trade as soon as possible. Until that happens, Butler will be a good teammate and play as hard as he always does. With trade talks whisper-quiet at this point, neither side has much of a choice. “They want me to go out here and hoop to the best of my abilities,” Butler said after practice on Sunday, his second workout with the team since he returned from an absence created by his trade request. “Make sure I’m healthy. Compete, ‘cause that’s what I love to do. Go up against the best, ‘cause that’s what I love to do. And do it for the guys that’s in the same jerseys as me.”"

And that’s what Butler has done, been an okay teammate during the season. Whether it’s cheering teammates on like Josh Okogie, Andrew Wiggins, or even Karl-Anthony Towns, Butler seems to be doing his due diligence.

Not only being a good guy from the bench or as a leader on the floor, Butler is averaging All-Star numbers and some of the best stat lines of his career, finishing last night against the Toronto Raptors with a hefty 5 steals.

But can Glen Taylor and head coach/president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau follow their end of the bargain. Because if not, both Thibs and Butler will not be happy by the seasons-end.

In this piece, we’re not going to focus on the teams that the Wolves will look to trade with, rather the players they are most likely looking to get in return for Butler’s superstar talents. Some of these may have been players that you’ve seen in our past deals with teams, but in our defense, we’ve essentially came up with every possible scenario.

It’s time we choose the best options in terms of players, while the Wolves don’t seem like they have a lot of leeway, they actually have the upper-hand in this deal. Mostly because they have the 4-time All-Star and won’t be asking for an All-Star (most likely) in return.

We won’t be including the fan-favorite Josh Richardson in these options, mostly because he is not on the table and won’t be for the foreseeable future.

But there is a Miami Heat player that is realistic for a potential deal.

All trade transactions legally went through the ESPN trade machine.