If Not Butler Then Who

[KiwiMatt]

I think it will go down as one of those trades that both teams came out better off in their respective situations.

This team desperately needed a winner, and Jimmy Buckets is just that. I doubt we'd make the playoffs this season if this trade didn't happen and it remained status quo.

[Wolvesfan21]

This will remain the biggest coup in Wolves history. Really still amazes me we got Butler for the steaming garbage we gave up.

I am thinking we might have lost this trade by year 3 and Wiggins was the guy to go. I would have felt better trading him straight up.

LaVine will be a stud
Dunn looks much better
Markkanen looks legit

I was a huge LaVine fan, I know he is not anywhere near Butlers level NOW, but I think 3 years from now he will surpass Butler. He was the best 3 point shooter in Wolves history as far as hitting tough contested shots. In a game when scoring 3's is needed more then ever we gave that up. Will LaVine ever be the defender that Butler is? Probably not. Passer, probably not. But Butler will never have the shooting and raw talent that LaVine has. The injury is a little concerning too of course. Though most can bounce back these days.

I also liked Markkanen, actually favored him over Ball and a few others who went higher. He's not playing too great, not terrible for a Rookie. 39% from the field and 34% from 3. DEFRTG 106. I also like DSJ and wouldn't have minded that pick. His defensive rating is garbage now though too (like most of the Wolves).

Dunn I was pretty low on to be honest. No biggie, I was happier rolling with Tyus as backup.

I think a big part of the trade was getting Butler who knows Thibs, knows what to do in his defensive scheme and just might be a voice to help KAT and Wiggins step up on the D side. So I underestimated that. Even though the Wolves did play good defense for a while last season after the AllStar break and before they were basically eliminated from playoff contention (i.e. in tank mode).

[Lipoli390]

We traded away the wrong wing, but that's behind us. And no I don't think there was anyone better than Jimmy Butler available.

It's been a while, Cam. Welcome back. I agree with you on both points. I can think of a number of players I'd rather have instead of Butler, but none of them seem like realistic possibilities given the assets we had to give (short of trading KAT). Trading Wiggins instead of LaVine would have probably allowed us to keep either Dunn or our pick. Apparently, we were going to take Markkenan with that pick. He's been better than I thought so far. But as I see it now, the guy to take would have been Donovan Mitchell.

In any event, all water under the bridge.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We traded away the wrong wing, but that's behind us. And no I don't think there was anyone better than Jimmy Butler available.

It's been a while, Cam. Welcome back. I agree with you on both points. I can think of a number of players I'd rather have instead of Butler, but none of them seem like realistic possibilities given the assets we had to give (short of trading KAT). Trading Wiggins instead of LaVine would have probably allowed us to keep either Dunn or our pick. Apparently, we were going to take Markkenan with that pick. He's been better than I thought so far. But as I see it now, the guy to take would have been Donovan Mitchell.

In any event, all water under the bridge.

I'm probably goiing to end up wrong on this, because three very tuned-in posters (Q, Cam and Lip) are saying we traded the wrong wing, but I think trading Zach instead of Wig was the best choice. I only need to point out how much better this team played directly after Zach got hurt last year and was replaced by Rush in the starting lineup to see he wasn't helping the team. Sure, we collapsed after Belly went down, but the games we played without Zach before that were the best we played all season. Maybe he will learn to play defense at some point, but last season he was far worse than Wig defensively. I'm going to continue to cheer for Zach because he is likable guy who plays hard, but I think his poor basketball IQ is always going to limit his effectiveness.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

We traded away the wrong wing, but that's behind us. And no I don't think there was anyone better than Jimmy Butler available.

It's been a while, Cam. Welcome back. I agree with you on both points. I can think of a number of players I'd rather have instead of Butler, but none of them seem like realistic possibilities given the assets we had to give (short of trading KAT). Trading Wiggins instead of LaVine would have probably allowed us to keep either Dunn or our pick. Apparently, we were going to take Markkenan with that pick. He's been better than I thought so far. But as I see it now, the guy to take would have been Donovan Mitchell.

In any event, all water under the bridge.

I'm probably goiing to end up wrong on this, because three very tuned-in posters (Q, Cam and Lip) are saying we traded the wrong wing, but I think trading Zach instead of Wig was the best choice. I only need to point out how much better this team played directly after Zach got hurt last year and was replaced by Rush in the starting lineup to see he wasn't helping the team. Sure, we collapsed after Belly went down, but the games we played without Zach before that were the best we played all season. Maybe he will learn to play defense at some point, but last season he was far worse than Wig defensively. I'm going to continue to cheer for Zach because he is likable guy who plays hard, but I think his poor basketball IQ is always going to limit his effectiveness.

To be clear, I am NOT saying we traded the wrong wing. I am just saying that I can identify with those that have second thoughts (or were against making that trade in the first place). While I am still for it, I can't say there wasn't some hesitation about losing Dunn and LaVine versus just trading Wiggins straight up for Butler (which I think the Bulls would have done).

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We traded away the wrong wing, but that's behind us. And no I don't think there was anyone better than Jimmy Butler available.

It's been a while, Cam. Welcome back. I agree with you on both points. I can think of a number of players I'd rather have instead of Butler, but none of them seem like realistic possibilities given the assets we had to give (short of trading KAT). Trading Wiggins instead of LaVine would have probably allowed us to keep either Dunn or our pick. Apparently, we were going to take Markkenan with that pick. He's been better than I thought so far. But as I see it now, the guy to take would have been Donovan Mitchell.

In any event, all water under the bridge.

I'm probably goiing to end up wrong on this, because three very tuned-in posters (Q, Cam and Lip) are saying we traded the wrong wing, but I think trading Zach instead of Wig was the best choice. I only need to point out how much better this team played directly after Zach got hurt last year and was replaced by Rush in the starting lineup to see he wasn't helping the team. Sure, we collapsed after Belly went down, but the games we played without Zach before that were the best we played all season. Maybe he will learn to play defense at some point, but last season he was far worse than Wig defensively. I'm going to continue to cheer for Zach because he is likable guy who plays hard, but I think his poor basketball IQ is always going to limit his effectiveness.

To be clear, I am NOT saying we traded the wrong wing. I am just saying that I can identify with those that have second thoughts (or were against making that trade in the first place). While I am still for it, I can't say there wasn't some hesitation about losing Dunn and LaVine versus just trading Wiggins straight up for Butler (which I think the Bulls would have done).

OK, thanks for that Q. You might be right that the Bulls would have taken Wig straight up instead of Zach and Dunn (the Bulls beat writer has said a number of times that the Bulls coveted Wig way more than Zach), and if so, in hindsight I would probably find that deal superior. For the sake of intellectual honesty though, I preferred the actual deal at the time.

[worldK]

No one else would be my answer. Butler was the only realistic all star we could get that will stay here long term and we got him.

I dont agree that we traded the wrong wing. Wiggins is a very divisive player. You either like him or you dont. Im not going to debate wigggins vs lavine as I like both guys. What im certain is that any gm, coach or guys working in front offices in the nba would trade lavine instead of wiggins in that scenario.

[thedoper]

No one else would be my answer. Butler was the only realistic all star we could get that will stay here long term and we got him.

I dont agree that we traded the wrong wing. Wiggins is a very divisive player. You either like him or you dont. Im not going to debate wigggins vs lavine as I like both guys. What im certain is that any gm, coach or guys working in front offices in the nba would trade lavine instead of wiggins in that scenario.

Yup. Add the knee tear to that it's not even a question.

[Monster]

No one else would be my answer. Butler was the only realistic all star we could get that will stay here long term and we got him.

I dont agree that we traded the wrong wing. Wiggins is a very divisive player. You either like him or you dont. Im not going to debate wigggins vs lavine as I like both guys. What im certain is that any gm, coach or guys working in front offices in the nba would trade lavine instead of wiggins in that scenario.

I'll take Wiggins and Lavine is one of my favorite current athletes of any sport. I read a stat about athletes with torn ACL's probably of reoccurance of a knee problem and it was much higher than I thought and is another factor to consider. I honestly didn't think it wa Ethan big of a deal. Lip's comments/concerns about those injuries are to some extent justified.