Just pick a direction and get it done already.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ dramatic start to the season became even more comical in a 125-95 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. The Wolves scored all of 38 first-half points in a 25-point first-half deficit that never got even a little bit better. This was ugly through and through.
This miserable loss only adds to the Timberwolves’ long-lasting soap opera, where Jimmy Butler has requested a trade, caused a scene in practice, played the front office into a self-sabotaging spiral, and watched it burn as he’s forced to suit up each night. Management reportedly not come close to dealing him since talks with the Heat two weeks ago, though the struggling Rockets have upped their offer.
The Wolves have some excuses for the blowout loss — Andrew Wiggins sat out the game to injury and Butler played through an illness — but still. This was brutal.
The Bucks are really good, but not THIS good
Milwaukee has reinvented its entire offense to cut down on mid-range shots and increase looks from “Moreyball zones”: the three-point range and from the restricted area. That’s helped their 5-0 start as new head coach Mike Budenholzer adapts the team modern basketball.
But Minnesota with Jimmy Butler is supposed to compete in the playoffs. It isn’t supposed to shoot 32 from the field, turn the ball over 19 times, and get stomped on when Giannis Antetokounmpo puts up a pedestrian 15-point, 12-rebound and six-assist line.
This loss has only made one thing EVEN MORE increasingly clear.
The Wolves need to get serious about Butler trades, and pick a direction
The Rocketsreportedly offered a package built around four first-round picks this week for Butler, and the Heat have been on-and-off in rumors as well. Minnesota is right to hold out for an offer it really likes for one of the best players its had in a decade, but at the very, it needs to get its front office together.
There’s no clear vision in whether the Wolves want to tear it down to rebuild at a slower rate with a growing Karl-Anthony Towns and Wiggins, or whether they want to stay competitive right now. We know head coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t here for a rebuild, but how long will he and hand-picked GM Scott Layden be here? Are they prioritizing short-term help in a Butler return out of self preservation?
With what’s been reported from Miami and Houston, both the teardown and the reload options are on the table. It’s time the Timberwolves seriously lock down and set a vision to trade Buler before this whole season’s wasted.