New Philadelphia 76ers swingman Jimmy Butler had decided that Friday's road game against the Sacramento Kings would be his last in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform, after the team neared an agreement with the Sixers, according to Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

The Kings had handed Minnesota a 121-110 defeat on the road Friday night, which signaled the end of his stay in The Twin Cities, as management had realized it was time to finally turn the page after a two-month melodrama.

Butler decided he would play on Friday night, but he viewed it as the fork in the road. If the Timberwolves didn’t find a deal to fulfill his long-simmering trade request after that, he would begin to sit indefinitely, league sources told The Athletic.

The Kings defeated Minnesota 121-110 to push the Timberwolves to 4-9 and a winless road trip; Butler had 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 41 minutes. He had played almost 124 minutes in the last three games, all losses, and at halftime of the final one, the Wolves were informed that this was it for Butler, sources said.

The Wolves dropped to 4-9 on the season, with that being the fifth straight loss and a display of clear disarray and lack of all-around chemistry on the team.

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Minnesota had three teams as finalists after the Miami Heat pulled 3-and-D extraordinaire Josh Richardson from their prior offer after multiple attempts to make a trade happen. The Wolves had the Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans and Sixers.

The front office's reluctance to give the Western Conference another weapon to put across their path was the major swing, allowing the Wolves to net another 3-and-D archetype in Robert Covington, while acquiring two other capable outside shooters in Dario Saric and Jerryd Bayless, though the injured Bayless may not have a spot on the team.

The Wolves were unable to shoehorn Gorgui Dieng's bloated three-year, $48 million salary, but parted ways with a potential bust in Justin Patton — ridding any hint of the 2017 NBA Draft night trade that sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and a flip of first-round selections that landed Lauri Markkanen in The Windy City.