Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor could try and broker a deal for All-Star forward Jimmy Butler during the annual owners' meetings in New York, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Suitors are reportedly operating under the belief that working through ownership is the way to go in these negotiations. Inquiring teams have been met with resistance from head coach/president Tom Thibodeau, who informed teams the Wolves intend to keep their franchise player.
Taylor could step in and change this thinking, as he has before when it was time to trade other stars in the past like Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love. His belief is that he will serve as the one to watch out for the team's best interest, considering Thibodeau is still in swampy waters with ownership and could try to make the best decision to continue his regime in full control of the front office and the clipboard.
Taylor will try to appeal for a potential trade on a owner-to-owner basis, assuring the team isn't robbed of any assets when trading their estranged star forward.
Teams are likely to offer a lot less for Butler, given the leverage of knowing the nightmare that could ensue if he sticks around the young core of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns, for one, has an impending max-level contract extension to sign, which has been put on the back burner until Butler's situation is dealt with — something that has put further pressure on Thibodeau and company to deal Butler away.
If Thibodeau was to get the skinny end of the cow in a trade situation, his roll of the dice to bring in his former Chicago Bulls star during last year's NBA Draft could be largely seen as a complete failure, potentially costing him his role as president in the near future.
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