There is no chance that the Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes, despite the fact that there’s room for the relationship between he and the front office to improve.
Although that bond is far from irreparable, it pales between that of Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau and All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler. Butler, of course, played for Thibodeau as a member of the Bulls and the two share similarly passionate approaches to basketball.
With the 2018/19 season on the horizon, however, Thibodeau will need to find a way to bridge the gap between himself and players on the Timberwolves’ roster that weren’t exposed to him in Chicago, a problem that Krawczynski writes traces back to a lack of communication.
There’s more out of the Northwest this afternoon:
- The Thunder are hoping to hit big with their two late draft picks, Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman writes, noting that the fact that they’ll fall so late in the draft (No. 53 and No. 57) means they’ll come with less of a financial burden and less pressure to pan out.
- The Trail Blazers need not rush out and blow up their roster, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes, suggesting that the team shouldn’t be punished for overachieving last season and ultimately getting overpowered in the postseason. Marks also adds that Portland fans can expect a long drawn-out restricted free agency process for Jusuf Nurkic, unless he decides to sign his $4.8MM qualifying offer.
- The Jazz are “in discussion” to hire Greek coach Fotis Katsikaris to serve as an assistant under Quin Snyder, Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. If hired, Katsikaris would fill the void left by Igor Kokoskov. It had been previously reported that Katsikaris had already been hired to a contract but those reports, Woodyard tweets, were premature.
I am all for Thibs to be fired. He is another failed HC that keeps going round & round, he is probably the only person in the world that thinks Butler is the star in Minny, anyone else can see the face of the franchise is KAT, so Thibs smarten up or you won’t last, because HC are not very important compared to the best player in the team, so Minny will always stick for KAT, as they should, guys like him don’t come often, if he sticks around probably will end up been the best player ever in Minny, you are very easily replaceable, that is the thing with coaches easy come easy go but future HoF man they are priceless.
I love Butlers play, he’s just about the only who seemed to defend in the paint without getting into foul trouble (something KAT needs to work on) He’s tough and brings the same grit to every game (something Wiggins needs to work on). So he complements them, but he also never compliments them. Every good game he’s pointing out what’s wrong in their game.
Butler still has some value. They can move him. We need to start bringing out he best in KAT and Wiggins. Thib and Butler don’t do that.
good reason I forgot Nurkic has a QO he could sign. He’s not doing that.
Blazers so not need to “blow up the roster” either. Just trade McCollum for Love!