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The Minnesota Timberwolves had quite a haul of players in the offseason, which included Jimmy Butler, whom the team traded for in a blockbuster deal with the Chicago Bulls.
Butler was instantly viewed as a great veteran addition to the young cast of Timberwolves, who already have the pair of Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins, and an important piece for Minnesota’s quest to unseat the Golden State Warriors as kings of the Western Conference.
Butler’s numbers have gone down, however, since coming over to the Twin City. While Butler remains an elite talent, there are just too many mouths to feed in Minnesota for Butler to meet the averages he used to have during his Chicago days.
There’s no need to worry though if you ask Butler. In an interview with USA Today’s Sam Amick, the Marquette product assured worried fans that he’s okay with his sagging numbers so long as the team is winning and that he could easily turn the heat on whenever he wants.
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Q: But you had a basketball made with the inscription, ‘Can a kid from Tomball (Texas) be the MVP?’ How do you reconcile that?
A: “He can. He can. Like I said, I can score the ball with the best of ‘em whenever I want. If they need me to take over a game, then I’ll do that. I’m not worried about scoring. We’ve got to win. That’s something that the organization hasn’t done in a very long time, and right now I think we’re figuring out a way to make that happen. Is my scoring down? Yeah, it is (from a career-high of 23.9 points per game last season to 14.7 per after Wednesday’s game). But I’m OK with it, because we’re winning. Now whenever we’re not winning, and my scoring’s down, and I feel like I’ve got to do a lot more, then that’s when you get – quote-unquote – the Jimmy Buckets that everybody wants and everybody knows.”
Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, Butler was a non-factor in Wednesday’s 125-101 loss to the Warriors, as he scored just 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Towns, Wiggins, and Teague have all played parts in Butler’s regression as they all have significant roles on the team. Butler averaged 23.9 points per game last season but is only putting up 14.7 points per contest this year. His usage rate has come down from 26.5 last season to only 19.6.
Despite the loss to the Warriors and Butler’s diminished role in a new environment, the Timberwolves are still winning, as they are 7-4 through their first 11 games of the season.
