Former Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau has no regrets about acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Bulls during the summer of 2017.
The Timberwolves traded Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and a first-round pick (which turned into Lauri Markkanen) for Butler. The four-time All-Star guided the Wolves to the playoffs during the 2017-18 season, but he requested a trade after the season ended because he didn't feel like he could compete in the Western Conference with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins by his side.
Tom Thibodeau tried to convince Jimmy Butler to stay with the Timberwolves, but it didn't work. Minnesota ended up trading Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers. Minnesota then fired Thibodeau in January.
“I don’t regret making the trade,” Thibodeau told Frank Isola of The Athletic. “In order to win we had to make a move like that. With Jimmy, Taj (Gibson), Derrick (Rose) and Jeff (Teague) we changed the roster. What gets overlooked is that by trading Ricky Rubio to Utah, it created over $14 million in cap space and we gained a 2018 first-round pick. To get to the playoffs there was going to have to be change. It’s very difficult to get a top-10 player in the NBA, when you have the opportunity, you need to take it. Those moves gave us the opportunity to become a playoff contender.”
Butler is now on the Miami Heat, while Thibodeau is unemployed and looking for a new job. The Timberwolves missed the playoffs last season and are on their way to missing it this season as well.
Fans in Minnesota may have hated Thibodeau and Butler, but the franchise was better off with both of them in town.
Who knows the next time the Timberwolves will make the playoffs again. Towns is an All-Star and Wiggins is talented, but neither guy has proven they can lead the team to consistent wins.
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