Minnesota Sports Forum

Thibs is right though to set the bar high and stay strong, at least for the time being. Just look at our record with and without Butler. It tells you all you need to know about his value on the court. No matter what kind of a prima donna jerk he comes off as, he's still a top 10 NBA talent.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Wolves asked for Ben Simmons in a trade. I love it

Well, already then. I'm all for setting the bar high to kick things off, but whoo boy!

Lol. Has Thibodeau asked for Kevin Durant or Steph Curry yet?

I always wonder about these reports if asking for something really high is the response when someone give you a hilariously bad lowball offer. Regardless I don't really buy much into this reporting anyway but it should add some amusement like Lip injected here.

Reports like the one saying Thibodeau asked for Simmons don't tell us much. First, I'm not sure these reports are reliable. Second, we don't know the context. My guess is that Thibodeau did, in fact, ask for Simmons in return. Thibodeau has an inflated view of Butler's value -- he always has. But I can't blame Thibs for asking. :)

Flip told me that when Love was on the trading block, Phil Jackson called him and make all kinds of ridiculous offers. But Flip said it was all in fun. As I recall, Flip said that Phil called him and said, "I'm interested in Kevin Love and I know I have nothing you'd want in return, but here goes...". Then apparently Phil went through each player on his roster and the two of them had a good laugh. Of course, if Thibodeau asked for Simmons, you can bet it wasn't in jest.

Ow do we know Thibs was the one on the phone? Maybe it was Layden or Glen joking around. Regardless your post lays out well why we shouldn't take these reports too seriously.

Q12543 wrote:Thibs is right though to set the bar high and stay strong, at least for the time being. Just look at our record with and without Butler. It tells you all you need to know about his value on the court. No matter what kind of a prima donna jerk he comes off as, he's still a top 10 NBA talent.

I agree that Thibodeau should drive a hard bargain. If he plays his cards right, Thibodeau should end up getting a good deal from Miami. More than any other GM/PBO, Pat Riley will look past all the prima donna stuff/drama and focus in on what Butler can do to help the Heat. And in the Eastern Conference, adding Buter to Dragic, Whiteside, Olynyk, Wade and the others on that team can have a huge impact on Miami's place in the standings.

I'm convinced that Riley will eventually give up Richardson and Adebayo, but we probably won't be able to get their draft pick. That would be fine with me as long as we get Adebayo. My fear is that Thibodeau is mucking things up by insisting that the Heat or a 3rd team take Gorgui's contract. It goes without saying that getting another team to take Gorgui's contract will diminish the player value we get in return. If Thibodeau offers Gorgui to Miami, he should assume Riley wants Gorgui and not allow Riley to use it as an excuse for offering less talent in return. That's because I suspect Riley really likes Gorgui and would LOVE to have him rather than Whiteside.

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Thibs is right though to set the bar high and stay strong, at least for the time being. Just look at our record with and without Butler. It tells you all you need to know about his value on the court. No matter what kind of a prima donna jerk he comes off as, he's still a top 10 NBA talent.

I agree that Thibodeau should drive a hard bargain. If he plays his cards right, Thibodeau should end up getting a good deal from Miami. More than any other GM/PBO, Pat Riley will look past all the prima donna stuff/drama and focus in on what Butler can do to help the Heat. And in the Eastern Conference, adding Buter to Dragic, Whiteside, Olynyk, Wade and the others on that team can have a huge impact on Miami's place in the standings.

I'm convinced that Riley will eventually give up Richardson and Adebayo, but we probably won't be able to get their draft pick. That would be fine with me as long as we get Adebayo. My fear is that Thibodeau is mucking things up by insisting that the Heat or a 3rd team take Gorgui's contract. It goes without saying that getting another team to take Gorgui's contract will diminish the player value we get in return. If Thibodeau offers Gorgui to Miami, he should assume Riley wants Gorgui and not allow Riley to use it as an excuse for offering less talent in return. That's because I suspect Riley really likes Gorgui and would LOVE to have him rather than Whiteside.

Agreed on Dieng, he shouldn't really be in the discussion, unless we can get some good pieces our cap won't matter if we suck due to bringing in players like Waiters because we demanded Dieng going out in the trade! Sounds like we pissed off Philly asking for Simmons, but we should really call them back up and try to get them back into the discussion as they have solid pieces in Covington and Saric that could keep us competitive. If we wait this out to the trade deadline which I doubt we do, but if we did we can get the Lakers involved in December and if Lebron is panicking they may offer something like Ingram, Hart, and KCP as the filler. If Miami does offer up both Richardson and Adebayo I would probably take that, but we aren't even close to that at this point if the Twitter leaks are somewhat accurate.

This is kinda fun.

https://twitter.com/waldersports/status/1045461222139850752?s=21

Some interesting comments from a league GM on Butler and the league in general.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-story-jimmy-butler-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-rumors/

monsterpile wrote:Some interesting comments from a league GM on Butler and the league in general.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-story-jimmy-butler-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-rumors/

Great article. I couldn't agree more. This process is getting so skewed by scoop oriented reports deliberately siding with Butler to keep their source when everything points to him be the self entitled bitch in this process. Good on Thibs for holding his ground. Butler is an idiot.

monsterpile wrote:Some interesting comments from a league GM on Butler and the league in general.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-story-jimmy-butler-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-rumors/

How fun of another GM to want our hapless franchise to fall on the sword for the good of the league and screw ourselves in the process. This is when I wish a name would come out because I would bet a lot of money he wouldn't have the balls to do it if he was in our spot. Anonymous reporting is also part of the problem because you get to say whatever you want and not have to put your name to it.

monsterpile wrote:Some interesting comments from a league GM on Butler and the league in general.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-story-jimmy-butler-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-rumors/

Thanks for posting, Monster. If that source really is an NBA GM, I want to know who he is to make sure the Wolves never hire him. My first though is this - let some other team be the first to cut off its nose to spite its face by refusing a trade demand. Even the Spurs didn't refuse Kyrie in the end. Butler might just be stubborn enough to sit out the entire season. And if he returns, assuming he even stays healthy enough to play the entire season, his presence will be toxic to the team's chemistry and the development of the other players. Then, when the season's over, Butler will most certainly leave as a FA if nothing else out of spite for the team that refused his trade demand. I'll note also that this unnamed GM explains Butler's attitude by reference to the star system among young players before they get to the NBA. Well, that system doesn't explain Butler because he was never part of that system. Butler's issues are unique to him -- a guy who was rejected by his own parents and never really celebrated or embraced by anyone until much later in life.

My take-away from this article is that the unnamed GM is an idiot. If it takes until February to get the best deal possible for Butler, then by all means the Wolves should keep him until then, in which case I'd pay him to stay away. But in any event, he should absolutely, positively be traded. And I still maintain that his value won't be hire in February than it is now.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Some interesting comments from a league GM on Butler and the league in general.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-story-jimmy-butler-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-rumors/

Thanks for posting, Monster. If that source really is an NBA GM, I want to know who he is to make sure the Wolves never hire him. My first though is this - let some other team be the first to cut off its nose to spite its face by refusing a trade demand. Even the Spurs didn't refuse Kyrie in the end. Butler might just be stubborn enough to sit out the entire season. And if he returns, assuming he even stays healthy enough to play the entire season, his presence will be toxic to the team's chemistry and the development of the other players. Then, when the season's over, Butler will most certainly leave as a FA if nothing else out of spite for the team that refused his trade demand. I'll note also that this unnamed GM explains Butler's attitude by reference to the star system among young players before they get to the NBA. Well, that system doesn't explain Butler because he was never part of that system. Butler's issues are unique to him -- a guy who was rejected by his own parents and never really celebrated or embraced by anyone until much later in life.

My take-away from this article is that the unnamed GM is an idiot. If it takes until February to get the best deal possible for Butler, then by all means the Wolves should keep him until then, in which case I'd pay him to stay away. But in any event, he should absolutely, positively be traded. And I still maintain that his value won't be hire in February than it is now.

I didn't read this article as this GM thinks this is what is best for the Timberwolves. I read it as an opportunity for someone who has been working in the game to bitch about the state of the league with some candid honesty. For the overall betterment of the game Jimmy should be made a lesson in this instance. It's a shitty way for him to conduct business and shouldn't be rewarded by getting what he wants here. I also agree with the source wholeheartedly that we shouldn't be blindly trusting scoop oriented reports like Woj on the internal state of the Wolves when his sources are likely agents with a pro-player and not pro-fan agenda. The way the NBA is reported now you may as well relegate the whole league to 10 teams. It sucks. The situation has sucked for Minnesota since their inception but now there's no point in even hiding it. Star players want to leave the franchises that have given them often hundreds of millions of dollars and the national coverage lauds them for it. It's getting even harder to be a fan in a small market. I feel for New Orleans and Milwaukee. Their time is coming too and the media will praise them for going to LA. It's sad.