Jimmy Butler spoils the Timberwolves season and maybe their future

Jimmy Butler is spoiling the Minnesota Timberwolves season. You could say it's hard to blame Butler for the Wolves' 30-point loss to the Blazers on Sunday, since Butler did not play. But that's precisely an example of how Butler ruins wolves. He did not play a second because he tries to ruin the wolves to force them to exchange. And the Wolves – or at least the coach-president, Tom Thibodeau – play the game.

Butler was held on Sunday for what the team called "preventive rest." Jimmy is, apparently, in good health and played a game in six days. Minnesota does not have back-to-back programs before Thanksgiving Day. There is disagreement as to whether Butler decides when he will play or whether he passes this call together with the franchise. If the team decides when to play it is to do wrong choices.

Butler faced the Warriors on Wednesday, a match that Minnesota would lose because Golden State is unbeatable for the moment. Sandwiched around this 35-minute Butler performance, he missed the match against his rival Jazz (a tight victory in Minnesota) and his rival Blazers (an embarrassing defeat). If you're really trying to strategically pitch a high-level player, play it in the winning critical games and sit it against teams that may be escaping from the gym. Although these days, many teams are clearly able to get the wolves out of the gym.

The fact that the Timberwolves advertise Butler's plans only after a journalist who often seems to get shovels from Butler's camp lets them know who is the captain of that ship. It was the unhappy star who orchestrated a training camp break-up, an ambush on the training ground and a deep embarrassment of the franchise's leadership. Among the people involved, Butler has the least invested in the future of the franchise and it is he who launches all the shots.

It's absolute madness. This is one of the strangest episodes in recent history of NBA dynamics.

Some critics then claimed that Carmelo Anthony had taken the Nuggets hostage in 2010 and early 2011 by limiting the number of teams with which he would commit to signing an extension before the 2011 free agency. The truth was that Melo had been honest about his preferences – the Nuggets were totally free to ignore them if another team was willing to compete in the trading market.

But Melo really played in the drama, and rather well. He did not shake Denver regarding availability or rest. He has fulfilled his contract.

Butler is not. That said, it's impossible to say he is hold the wolves hostage. They hold themselves hostage by letting Butler take the wheel.

Photo of Hannah Foslien / Getty Images

Negotiating a star rental – especially one as idiosyncratic as Butler turned out to be – is not easy, but the lack of urgency of Thibodeau and Wolves is shocking. They made the playoffs last season. They were two wins from seed number 3. Each game countsand the wolves are here spitting games on Butler's whims. They have the No. 14 differential over 15 Western teams, the only good grace being a pretty tough schedule so far.

The worst thing is that Karl-Anthony Towns regresses in the middle of the drama. It's impossible to say if Butler's fiasco weighs so heavily on Towns that it's underperforming, but it does not matter, it does not help. It has been less constant at both ends of the season. If Butler and Thibodeau thought that all this whirlwind of discontent would help cities thrive – well, so far, that's not the case. As I wrote, Towns is the most important person involved. Every second that wolves spend upset him instead of helping him reach his full potential is a lost moment.

Wolves must exchange Butler or apologize for the team until an exchange is found. You can not easily force him to play when he is in good health – a doctor can always find an injury – but it would be better for a certain absence than for an uncertain presence at this stage. Butler is too disruptive.

Thibodeau is guilty of professional misconduct for allowing this to happen. This is the gift of the team – it controls the coaching staff and the front office. There is no other place to blame. Even though he handles Butler properly from here, he should be in the next train outside the city. It's as sloppy as anything Phil Jackson has done in New York. It could actually prevent Thibodeau from being the NBA's new head coach. Does he realize it? Does he know how much the Butler fiasco ruined his reputation?

It's ugly. One of the ways to start the cleaning process is to get Butler out of there, one way or another.