The Minnesota Timberwolves begin their season tonight. And unless something drastic happens, their disgruntled star Jimmy Butler will, against his best efforts, be on the floor.
Speaking to the Star Tribune on Tuesday, Wolves owner Glen Taylor said he met with Butler. According to the report, the two have allegedly come to an “understanding” as the team continues to search for a trade partner.
“The latest is he is going to be going to practice every day, which he has been, and plans to play in games,” Taylor said. “He will be a regular team player.”
But that isn’t going to stop others from analyzing the near-constant stream of drama coming out of Minnesota. Kevin Garnett, who played more than 13 seasons for the Timberwolves, had a particularly strong take.
“I totally understand him,” Garnett said of Butler while appearing on “Inside the NBA” on Tuesday. “I totally get it. And he’s dealing with Glen, who doesn’t know s–t about basketball.
“He knows how to make money, but he doesn’t know anything about basketball.”
Garnett has plenty of history with Taylor. Garnett was Minnesota’s franchise player in the early 2000s, but his teams were never able to break through, in part because of some questionable personnel moves.
In 1999, Garnett’s teammate Stephon Marbury was traded to the Nets. The trade derailed Minnesota’s momentum, while Marbury blossomed into a star. The next year, the Wolves botched the signing of free agent Joe Smith, and were stripped of three first-round draft picks after the signing was determined to be the result of salary-cap tampering. Taylor traded Garnett to the Celtics in 2007.
Asked about Wolves management in a 2017 Vice Sports interview, Garnett said: “I don’t really deal with Minnesota’s upstairs. They suck.”
Garnett wasn’t entirely on Butler’s side. While he praised the swingman as an “A-minus player” and a guy who can make teams better, he also questioned Butler’s extremely public way of airing out his dirty laundry.
“I understand what he’s trying to do,” Garnett said. “Just the way he’s going about it might not be the best way to me. … I know he’s passionate, but the way he’s doing it, I’m not feeling that.
“At some point, players got to sit down and be men. They’ve got to sit down and talk to each other and they’ve gotta iron this out. And if Jimmy has an issue with the upstairs, I think that he should go upstairs and keep it upstairs.”
