Tom Thibodeau on Jimmy Butler's Business Options: "We Will not Do Something Bad for Timberwolves"

Butler's commercial demand and the extension of the cities essentially erase last season in the history of the Timberwolves. Of course, they have always had the first playoff appearance in 14 years and an improvement of 16 wins over the previous season. This is worth something for this hungry fan base. But the player with whom they exchanged so many assets for – two dynamic young guards, although divisive – Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn, as well as the rights project of the versatile young Lauri Markkanen – will soon be absent.

And even though reports were released late Monday, Timberwolves coach and basketball coach Tom Thibodeau was still trying to convince Butler to cancel his bid and return to the team. honor Butler's commercial demand. Butler sounds as good as it goes.

"Our reality is that he asked for an exchange, so we will honor that," said Thibodeau. "But we will not do anything … Our conversations (between Butler and Thibodeau) will remain confidential, he asked for an exchange and we will honor his request, but we will not do everything. which is bad for the Timberwolves, we are going to do what is good for the Timberwolves, we need to prioritize.

Thibodeau's point was that the Timberwolves would not have to make a bad deal because of Butler's application schedule in the days to come before the start of the training camps. He believes Butler is one of the top 10 players in the NBA and he thinks that the assets that Timberwolves receive in return for Butler should reflect this.

On Tuesday, he also insisted on something he told reporters during media day Monday: if Butler is not traded next week, he will have to show up at the training camp Timberwolves once his re-education of the deadly season ended.

"He's under contract," said Thibodeau. "Who knows, it's a pretty fluid situation, we'll always do what's best for the Timberwolves, we'll prioritize that."

Thibodeau remained publicly aware of this ordeal. During a 25-minute press conference on Monday media day, Thibodeau used a variant of the same thought – that Timberwolves "will not be forced to make a bad deal" or that it "must do what is best for the franchise" – no less than 15 times.

This can be interpreted in two ways: A message to the CEOs of the NBA, namely that the Timberwolves will not exchange Butler for dollars because of the timing is not ideal. Or a message to Thibodeau's owner, Glen Taylor, that he still wants to keep Butler on the team, especially if no comparable job is offered in a trade.

But where there is smoke, there is usually fire, and the obvious message from the media in the last few days, as well as during the Timberwolves media day, was: Butler is gone. It's just a question of when and what kind of transport the wolves can have.

Is it a five-alarm fire for Timberwolves? Absolutely, especially in the short term.

But could this disaster be reframed differently – that it is a step backwards to take two steps forward? Certainly.

This year's Timberwolves training has been built to win now. The average age of Timberwolves players on this list is 27.2 years, according to RealGM.com; it's the sixth oldest team in the NBA. The average age of last year's Timberwolves training was 27.3 years, the ninth oldest team in the NBA. Eight players from this year's list have been acquired as free agents. Thibodeau had hoped that this experience would propel the team not only out of the lottery, but also into the playoffs. Last season, it worked well until Butler's injury.

But the previous season – in 2016-17, the first season of Thibodeau with the Timberwolves – the average age was 25.7 years, the sevenththe youngest team in the NBA. This list was built internally and not by the free agency. Nine players from this team were acquired through drafts and drafts. The last team to have more players on their roster acquired through the repechage or repechage was the Portland Trail Blazers 2012-13 with 10 points.

What Butler's trade request could do to the Timberwolves is to bring the clock back to a similar schedule that the Timberwolves were looking at during the 2016-17 season. That made the original Butler deal a sunk cost, but the sunk cost that was last season also included a playoff experience for cities and other youngsters like Andrew Wiggins and Tyus Jones.

"We want them to continue this project," Thibodeau told me Tuesday.

So, is it really so bad for the Timberwolves that Butler asked for this trade, shit timing and everything?

Sorry, but the Timberwolves were not going to win a conference title this season, no matter what Butler did and no matter how many cities and Wiggins got better. It will be the Golden State Warriors (or the Houston Rockets or, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers – never doubt LeBron James). Butler's job is to reset the clock of this franchise around the development of two young people: Towns, who was an All-Star and All-NBA player last season and Wiggins, who still has tremendous talent despite frustrating results. Kicking the road, when the cities and perhaps Wiggins are both at their peak, probably means a few things: the Golden State Warriors will no longer dominate the league, Father Time will finally start catching up with James, and the rest League winners will be well into their thirties (with Dirk Nowitzki probably retired).

In addition, Butler had clearly concluded that he had not considered his future with this franchise. He was not going to sign with the Timberwolves this season when he is an unrestricted free agent. Maybe the Timberwolves can now get young talent that's useful for Butler instead of losing it for free will.

The timing is never good when a player requests an exchange. Thibodeau said that during the media day Monday. I told him Tuesday that the timing of Butler's commercial demand seemed particularly bad.

Thibodeau was optimistic.

"We are not distracted," he said. "That's the important thing." In the NBA, things always change, whether it's a commercial demand, an injury – it could be a lot different things – you need to be ready to go away – do not be distracted. " the important thing. "

Of course, he will say something like that. The most obvious way to look at the current situation of Timberwolves is that it is a franchise disaster. He's trying to put a happier face on something that's embarrassing enough, namely that his guy – the guy he moved to the mountains just a year ago – is asking for an exchange.

But there is an optimistic way of considering this situation too, and a way that is not naive and Pollyannois. A few days after one of the star players asked for an exchange, the franchise managed to lock another star – the youngest of the two stars – and the type of players NBA teams throughout the season to have a chance of five more seasons after this one.

This is not what anyone in this organization would have asked for at the end of last season. But depending on the situation in the weeks and months to come, this could be a blessing in disguise.