Jimmy Butler has requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but that didn’t stop him from practicing with his teammates Wednesday and creating quite the scene.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the details of the wild scene at T-Wolves practice.
At one point in a scrimmage, sources said, Butler turned to GM Scott Layden and screamed, "You (bleeping) need me. You can't win without me." Butler left teammates and coaches largely speechless. He dominated the gym in every way. Jimmy's back.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 10, 2018
All-Star Jimmy Butler participated in Minnesota's practice, a session that included him verbally challenging teammates, coaches and front office, league sources told ESPN. Butler was vociferous and emotional at times, targeting Thibodeau/Layden/Towns/Wiggins. Story soon on ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 10, 2018
Keith Smith of Real GM also relayed some info from a Timberwolves staffer:
I spoke with a Wolves staffer who said about today's practice: "It was bad. Guys come in angry, having bad days all the time. This was as bad as I've ever seen a practice in my years in the NBA."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 10, 2018
Wow.
The most hilarious part of this entire situation might be that Butler, according to ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, took the third stringers and beat the Timberwolves starters during this practice.
(Watch Elhassan explain on Wednesday’s episode of “The Jump”)
Butler reportedly told the Timberwolves he wants to be traded by Friday. The Timberwolves reportedly were close to making a trade with the Miami Heat during recent talks, but the deal fell apart.
Butler arguably is a top 10 NBA player. He’s top 15 at worst. There’s no denying his impressive two-way skill set, but antics like this could do more harm than good in his quest to get out of Minnesota. These probably aren’t the actions teams that have interest in him, either via trade or when he’s a free agent next summer, want to see.
