Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, and it seems like trouble is brewing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota’s best player, veteran forward Jimmy Butler, is entering the final season of his contract and can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He’s been the subject of many free agency rumors over the last few months as a result.
Losing him would be a huge blow to a franchise that seemed to be on the rise just a year ago following the acquisition of Butler at the 2017 NBA Draft, which paired him with recent No. 1 overall picks Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins to form a very talented trio.
Shams Charania of The Athletic provided updates on the futures of Butler and Towns on Monday, and how those futures could be connected. Here’s the latest on Butler, who reportedly will meet with the T-Wolves on Monday to discuss his future:
“This is going to be a telltale week for (Butler),” Charania said. “Very much so, I’m told, this a last-ditch meeting for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Tom Thibodeau, and how they respond and how Jimmy responds to it will be interesting.
Later in the video, Charania offers more insight into how Butler’s future with the T-Wolves could impact Towns’ contract extension with the team.
“Karl-Anthony Towns, who’s one of the top talents in the league, has yet to sign to sign his rookie max extension, which should be a no-brainer,” Charania said. “And I’m told there won’t be any decision on that until this Jimmy Butler situation resolves itself.”
Woah.
It sounds like Timberwolves head coach and president Tom Thibodeau has a lot of work to do if he’s going to keep his talented core together long-term. The best-case scenario for Minnesota would be to sign both Butler and Towns, but if it’s one or the other, Towns is the obvious choice given his immense talent and the fact he’s six years younger than Butler.
What we do know is Monday could be a pivotal date in the history of the Timberwolves franchise.
