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Jimmy Butler is still not at Timberwolves' training camp, which is odd despite the fact that Butler has expressed his desire to be exchanged for a week before the camp opens. training. This is not the normal outcome of a star's commercial demand, which helps to remind us that this is not an ordinary commercial demand.
Most of the contracted players show up at Media Day and at the training camp even if they asked to be treated. The most recent stars who have made their way to Butler also make their requests in June or July, giving the team all the time they need to make arrangements. Paul George told the Pacers he did not intend to sign with them again in free will a year before the end of his contract. Kyrie Irving told the Cavaliers two years before his business is up. Butler waited until the end of September, just before the start of his last contract season.
This application is a gift for the Timberwolves, but the moment is rather difficult. Given that Timberwolves managing partner Glen Taylor had insisted that Butler be traded quickly despite the front-office protests, it does not make much sense for the star wing to show up for the practice.
But this highlights the singularity of all this.
What happens if a business does not materialize for two weeks? For a month? Butler actually sitting a season under contract is a terrible precedent for the NBA. It's not great for Butler either, although it's easy to imagine that a person with a work ethic will stay in great shape, no matter which team eventually finds him.
While Tom Thibodeau, the Timberwolves 'coach and chief of staff, still thinks he can convince Butler to stay, reports Athletics' Jon Krawczynski. Thibodeau takes this pose after Taylor, the man who signs his paychecks, said Butler would be exchanged. Taylor would even have told other franchise owners that if his front office was not responsive, him.
As I wrote on Monday, it is a horrible process that thwarts everything we know about the effectiveness of team work. In the end, Thibodeau works for Taylor and, for better or for worse, if Taylor has a desired outcome to a problem, Thibodeau's job is to get there.
Thibodeau basically refuses to do it. He thinks he can fix it.
Is Thibodeau ready to get fired for this? This is the question at the heart of the dispute between Thibs and Taylor. Does Taylor dare to strip Thibodeau of his power at the front office while keeping him the head coach? Will Taylor start Thibodeau? Is it at stake?
In a certain way, it is the real bluff that Thibodeau calls. Of course, he calls a bluff on Butler from next summer. It's a terrible terrible bluff to call – as shown last week, Timberwolves chemistry is unstable and Butler was apparently very clear in his intentions. Thibs should probably believe it.
the real The bluff that Thibodeau calls is that Taylor will not remove his power or return it if he continues to ignore direction and fight to keep Butler. This indicates that Thibodeau believes that Taylor is too cowardly to make this jump, or that Thibodeau prefers to be stripped of his power or dismissed rather than to negotiate Jimmy Butler.
The first position is crazy courage. The second is brave madness. It is often difficult to say where Thibodeau is.
Butler is really, really good player, one of the top 15 in the league. You do not trade players like that lightly. But it's such an easy equation. The Wolves have Karl-Anthony Towns, another top-15 player who does not get along with Butler anyway, but is much younger and has just signed an agreement to keep him in Minnesota for another six years. Butler can leave, without any condition, in 10 months.
Having both would be the best, of course, but we want to go out and can leave soon. If you just swap Butler now, everyone is happy!
Everyone except Thibodeau. Because of this, Thibodeau is not willing to give up the ghost and commit to bargain Butler.
That's what it means to say: Thibodeau rejects Butler's threat, Taylor's declared leadership and, frankly, the best interest of the team he leads. It's not only brave and bewildering, but selfish too.
Even if Thibodeau really thinks he can solve this problem – as Krawczynski's report makes clear, Thibs tries to convince others: it's a very bad idea. If he does not discover the reason soon, we will soon find the answer to the question of whether he is ready to be unemployed or under the thumb of a new basketball boss just because he does not want to trade Butler.
Timberwolves do not need to more malfunction, but Thibodeau is contributing to it now. In one way or another, it must stop.
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