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Despite an unforeseen meniscus injury that has sidelined his for four-to-six weeks, Jimmy Butler remains nonchalant about his future, even if the Minnesota Timberwolves choose to bypass the opportunity to lock him down long-term this summer.
The Wolves can re-negotiate the contract of their 6-foot-7 All-Star forward this summer, signing him to a longer deal and taking him off the market of a 2019 class that can see the likes of Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson as targets for several contenders.
“Oh, I’m not worried about it,” Butler told NBA.com's David Aldridge. “I mean, in the most humble way possible, if they don’t take care of me this summer, I think the summer after that, I’m’a end up playing somewhere.”
“Let’s not worry about that. Look, money’s never the issue for me. If you win, that takes care of everything. That’s what I’m trying to do right now. When that presents itself, we’ll think about it and talk about it.”
Butler has always been a fan of letting his play speak for itself, and after an experimental first few games of the season, the Marquette product got back to his bucket-getting ways, which have translated into his 22.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in his first season in Minnesota.
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Butler also commented on if the T-Wolves are a championship-caliber group:
“On paper. I don’t think we play hard enough right now. I don’t think we guard the way we’re supposed to in order to win. There are a lot of things that we have to be better at, night in and night out, no matter if the opponent is home, away, neutral. No matter what the start time is. You’ve got to play hard. We do not do that. I’m not afraid to say that we don’t do that. So, how do we change it? Like I said, it starts with everybody as an individual. If you can say you’re giving your all, (bleep), we’re going to be in a good position to win.”
The Chicago-area native has done the work at both ends of the floor, averaging 1.9 steals per game and acting as the anchor of an otherwise young Timberwolves team, who has tried to navigate a very tough Western Conference, cracking the fourth spot, in a virtual tie with the San Antonio Spurs.
If the Timberwolves fail to keep him, Butler will get plenty of offers from other teams, putting the ball on his court, thanks to his player-option in 2019.
