Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau's press conference ended on Tuesday when someone asked a follow-up question on Jimmy Butler's trade request.

"We will not continue to get into that," said Thibodeau. "We are going to talk about the Spurs. That's what we're going to talk about. I mean, you want the drama to continue. We do not go there.

Do not go there? "There" is where the Timberwolves live. Their slogan is "All eyes north". Thibodeau seems to think it's "All eyes closed".

The Timberwolves begin a new season of dramatic television series Wednesday night in San Antonio. If Butler were part of the long-term future of the Wolves, this team might be kind enough to win more than 50 games and get the third-seeded Western Conference.

It's a very good alignment, better than the one that produced 47 wins last year, but at one point, the Wolves will trade Butler, because they have to do it, and press a reset button to the flatter franchise. than the nose of a medium weight.

With regard to Wolf's immediate major projects and the historical context of the franchise, this will rightly be considered a disaster. But it will be another type of disaster.

Negotiate Kevin Garnett for nothing? Do you hire David Kahn? Jonny Flynn instead of Steph Curry? Pay Joe Smith under the table? These are the mistakes that ensured the failure.

Thibs' willingness to entrust the reins of the franchise to someone who did not want to, to Butler, is an equally flagrant mistake, but the situation of Wolves is less dramatic this time for a reason:

Wolves use Karl-Anthony Towns. His mere presence is a cause of rational hope.

Last season, Butler quickly explained with his game that he could become the second largest Timberwolf of all time, after Garnett. Now that Butler has abdicated his place on this list, cities should get there quickly.

Once Butler left, the Wolves will not rebuild from scratch, they will not try to sell us to Gerald Glass, Christian Laettner, J.R. Rider or Derrick Williams. They will always have one of the best young players in the league, one who should be able, soon, to make the word "young" a useless qualifier.

Thibs will be remembered for his negotiating skills – Zach LaVine, the draft pick that has become Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn – for Butler, and if he fails to recover a similar talent by exchanging Butler, his tenure as that basketball boss will be stale forever.

What could have been will not be, but what is left is not bad. If Towns improves his defense by 10% while continuing to develop a remarkable offensive game, he will become one of the dominant players in the league.

Despite all the passivity shown by Andrew Wiggins playing with Butler, it is fair to note that the previous season, at 21, he averaged 23.6 points. His corpus is more impressive than his body language and he could blossom after Butler's departure.

The bench is better than last year, with the addition of a full – time Derrick Rose, Anthony Tolliver and two decent picks. The personality and talent of Jamal Crawford will be missed. His defense will not be.

Tolliver was asked if the Butler saga is over. His answer was more realistic than that of Thibs.

"No, it's not over because I do not know, he did not come out and did not say anything differently about his wishes," Tolliver said. In the end, hey, he's here now.

At the end of the day, yes. At the end of the week? Who knows?

The best thing that can happen to this franchise is the negotiation by Thibs of Butler against a reasonable value, and the cities that use this dramatic summer as motivation to take control of the franchise.

If Towns plays and leads to his abilities, the last Wolves disaster does not have to be as eloquent as their previous disasters. He can become the leader Butler claimed to be.

Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard on TalkNorth.com. On Twitter: @SouhanStrib