Following a meeting with Minnesota Timberwolves officials, All-Star forward Jimmy Butler has requested a trade after playing just one season with the team, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Jimmy Butler has requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, league sources tell me and @JonKrawczynski. Butler has given Minnesota a list of one-to-three teams with whom he's open to signing extension, in anticipation of trade.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 19, 2018
Despite Butler's trade request, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports Tom Thibodeau is not ready to part ways with the All-Star just yet.
"Butler wants a trade to a team that plans to sign him to a five-year, maximum contract that could be worth $190 million in the summer, and his list could expand based upon the Timberwolves' and rival teams' willingness to negotiate a trade for him, league sources said.
For now, however, Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau has no interest in trading Butler and wants to try and return to the playoffs with him in the lineup, league sources said."
Rival teams have reached out to the Timberwolves since the trade demands were reported, but according to Wojnarowski, the Timberwolves aren't set on moving the four-time All-Star.
Although he missed 23 regular season games in 2017-18, Butler earned All-NBA Third Team honours for the second consecutive season by posting averages of 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. Minnesota was 37-25 with Butler in the lineup and 10-13 without him.
In the 2018 postseason, the 29-year-old averaged a team-high 15.8 points along with 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists over five games.
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Minnesota, who is projected to finish eighth in the Western Conference this upcoming season, will look to remain a playoff contender with or without Butler.
