Back in 2017, Jimmy Butler was shipped from Chicago to Minnesota to play for the Timberwolves. In that trade, the T-Wolves sent a big package to the Bulls, Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the seventh pick of that year’s draft, which would become Lauri Markkanen.
At the time, it was seen as a good move by Minnesota. Jimmy was going to reunite with his former Bulls coach, Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls were going to get the young pieces they needed to start rebuilding. In the end, nothing went as expected, Jimmy’s tenure with the T-Wolves was tumultuous, he didn’t connect with his teammates and in the end, the only way out was precisely that, get out of the team.
One month before he got traded to Philly, he starred in one of the most controversial moments of his career.
Via Bleacher Report:
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Butler practiced with the Timberwolves as he awaits resolution to his trade request.
Wojnarowski added Butler spent practice “verbally challenging teammates, coaches and [the] front office,” and at times specifically targeted head coach Tom Thibodeau, general manager Scott Layden, and teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
Sources told Wojnarowski that Butler yelled in Layden’s direction, “you (bleeping) need me. You can’t win without me.”
Minnesota would trade him to the Philadelphia 76ers in November of 2018 after having played only 69 games with the team. This was an experiment for both parties but in the end, it didn’t work out for anybody.
Minnesota really gave up Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, and Kris Dunn for 59 games of Jimmy Butler.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 16, 2020
Butler would go to Philadelphia and his stint there wasn’t as good as people expected. He’s now part of the Miami Heat, leading the team to be one of the four best squads in the Eastern Conference. Since he left the Bulls, his career was complicated but now he’s seemingly found his place in the world.
The T-Wolves are still trying to be a competitive team, they sent Andrew Wiggins to the Warriors in exchange for D’Angelo Russell this season but that didn’t help them change their reality. They gave a lot for Butler and that trade didn’t work out, now it’s time to look for different ways.
