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When Jimmy Butler told Minnesota Timberwolves that he would be moving to a free agency in one year and asked for an exchange in the process, I wrote that the team should definitely treat him and lock Karl-Anthony Towns. That's precisely what Minnesota is doing now: the cities have signed a maximum extra for the rookies over the weekend, and the Wolves are trying to trade Butler before the official start of the camp. training Tuesday. Timberwolves do exactly what they should do.
But how they got to this point should trigger alarms for everyone involved.
Tom Thibodeau, the head coach and front-desk manager, reportedly refused to negotiate with Butler, saying he could do anything during the season and convince the All-NBA wing to stay. He asked his general manager, Scott Layden, to reject all offers.
But the owner of the Timberwolves franchise, Glen Taylor, saw the light and told his colleagues that Butler would be gone by Tuesday. Taylor and his colleagues were all in New York together for the pre-season meeting of the NBA's board of governors when Butler's kerfuffle exploded. He offers offers since.
This is not normal.
Taylor is not considered a particularly competent decision maker in the NBA. It's not the reason why wolves experienced a 14-year drought, but it did not do not the reason. Taylor, who brought David Kahn into our lives (thank you Glen) and at the end of the week, will probably have overseen the three-star exchanges in their bonuses (Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love and Butler). You are wrong if you exchange all your All-NBA players in their bonuses.
Taylor hired Thibodeau in 2016, but Taylor made a crucial mistake: he gave staff control to Thibodeau. This practice is dying – in fact, Thibodeau is the last head coach with staff supervision at this stage, unless you count Gregg Popovich, who has this title control but may not be in practice recent.
A recent report suggested that Taylor regretted giving Thibodeau this power. You think? It was likely that the cost of the arrival of such a reputed coach as Thibodeau's – without empowering staff, would have required Taylor to hire someone without Thibs qualifications, and who knows where we would be now? But the disappearance of Thibodeau, whether it happens now or in the future, should mark the end of an era. More than double GM coach.
The trade for Butler was proudly celebrated at the time. But the wolves (and those of us who celebrated the wolf coup) made a crucial mistake: we did not consider whether Butler would stay around. For my part, listening to what Butler has always said about the importance of winning, I have assumed that the Wolves – with the cities, with Andrew Wiggins, with Butler, with Thibodeau – would win 50 games the first time year and would never look back.
Instead, Minnesota won 47 wins and bickered all along. Thibodeau's defensive advantages made Wiggins shine. The cities have had a well-deserved All-NBA season, but people are no longer talking about him as a future MVP. And Butler is not interested in staying after all.
I've written that Butler is doing a favor to the Wolves by sharing his plans now and allowing Minnesota to preserve its value by getting something back into a business before it separates. This will help determine how bad this is for wolves. To get Butler a year ago, the Wolves dropped Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine and traded some choices, getting Justin Patton but losing Lauri Markkanen. The Finn looks like a star in the making, so if Minnesota has no advantage at this level in a Butler exchange, it will end up in a net loss, even though Jimmy helped end the long and terrible drought in the playoffs. Do you know how hard it is to lose an exchange when you pick up an All-NBA player as a bonus? Its pretty hard! The wolves could have done it.
The process by which the wolves exchange Butler is clearly broken. With the front office refusing to consider bids, Taylor educated owners to bring him offers if Layden and Thibodeau do not listen. There is no doubt that this process will not result in informed decision-making with complete information. For Taylor to continue on this path instead of having a semblance of control over the franchise, it is absurd.
Butler will be out soon and Thibodeau will probably be gone in about a year, if not earlier. But Taylor will always be there, as far as we know. He is doing the right thing by forcing a Butler business. He does it entirely wrongly, a way that shows a lack of trust in his staff and a lack of confidence in his own judge of talent.
Minnesota wrapping the mess is emblematic of Taylor's mandate. The alteration will not go away when Butler or Thibodeau do it. It's a part of the Timberwolves, an unwanted sidekick as long as Taylor is there, poorly managed personalities and processes.
It reveals one of the coldest truths in the world of American professional sports: you are almost always stuck for decades or forever with the person who owns your favorite franchise. Good luck with that.
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