Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

Minnesota Timberwolves: Playing the Butler’s advocate

By Pat Hall

NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 29: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jimmy Butler #23 react during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on November 29, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 29: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jimmy Butler #23 react during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on November 29, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
Minnesota Timberwolves
SAN ANTONIO, TX – MARCH 17: Jeff Teague #0 and Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Player Leadership

Critics will say that the contracts were just the beginning but not the whole problem. That the problems really started when Butler requested the trade, missed opening practices, and started criticizing his teammates.

But consider this: Karl-Anthony Towns has been with the organization since 2015. Andrew Wiggins has been in Minnesota since 2014. Jimmy Butler? Just over a year. Wiggins and Towns, despite their young ages, should be the unquestioned leadership of this team. Minnesota has already made it clear with their contracts that these two players are the faces of the franchise.

The team is loaded with talent, and is better than an 8-seed even in the top-heavy West. The way that Wiggins and Towns played last year and so far this year, it’s clear that they are not playing up to their potential.

At what point does one get frustrated over lack of leadership? Jimmy Butler was with the program long enough to wait for the leaders to step up, and those leaders seemed content with “same old, same old” through the summer and fall. Butler, at 29, doesn’t have time to play for the 8-seed, especially when looking around at a locker room containing Wiggins and Towns, veterans Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson, and sky-is-the-limit rookie Josh Okogie, all led by a veteran coach Tom Thibodeau.

This team is capable of playing at home during the first round and Butler knows that. The silence from his teammates, the perceived complacency, could have been too much to keep Butler quiet.

Home/Timberwolves News