As we arrive at the three-week anniversary of Jimmy Butler’s Los Angeles meeting with Tom Thibodeau during which Butler requested a trade from the Timberwolves, all sorts of uncomfortable questions need to be explored.
One of them: What happens if the Wolves dig in and decline to trade Butler? What is Butler’s end game in that scenario?
I can’t imagine any pleasant outcome in that case, nor do I think it’s very plausible. Butler being traded soon, as much as Thibodeau might not want to, is still the most likely and obvious outcome.
But if not … well, Door 1 is Butler somehow comes back and the atmosphere at Target Center is overwhelmingly toxic.