The Jimmy Butler saga is finally over for the Minnesota Timberwolves, though young star Karl-Anthony Towns claimed the trade fiasco didn't affect the team on the court:

That's hard to believe given how the Timberwolves looked prior to the trade. Minnesota is 4-9 on the season and 0-8 on the road after making the playoffs last season. While part of this can be chalked up to simply not playing well, there was way too much talent in place to struggle that poorly, even with Butler sitting out some games.

Karl-Anthony Towns himself has had his issues on the floor this season, especially when sharing the court with Butler. While his 19.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per game represent stellar numbers, Towns is shooting just 45.9 percent from the field and has been marginalized at times.

Another big issue for the Timberwolves has been their porous defense. Minnesota is last in the league in defensive rating with 114.3 points allowed per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. Defense was a big problem for them last year, even when they were a playoff team, and Towns knows it has to be better:

Karl-Anthony Towns will have to take the lead on the defensive end as an anchor down low, an area he has struggled with at times throughout the course of his career. Perhaps we'll see a more emboldened Towns now that Butler is finally out of the picture. Towns was consistently one of the targets of Butler's ire, and there are no more excuses with the trade finally consummated.