Minnesota Timberwolves president and head coach Tom Thibodeau will travel to Los Angeles to meet with star forward Jimmy Butler on Tuesday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The meeting between the coach, general manager Scott Layden, and Butler was initially scheduled to take place in Minnesota, but plans changed within the last 24 hours.
Why is the location important? Butler has traveled through Europe for most of the offseason and has yet to return to Minnesota since his Timberwolves were punched out of the playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
Butler has made Los Angeles his home away from home, making the switch a clear indication of who really wants to make the meeting happen.
It is the franchise that is indeed concerned about Butler's rift with the younger players, especially considering the big gamble they took by trading away two promising young players in Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn (plus the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen) on draft night of last year — a roll of the dice that could prove futile if Butler chooses to leave next summer or even sooner than that.
The Timberwolves have yet to seal the deal with Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been awaiting a max-level extension of his rookie contract throughout the summer. That negotiation is expected to take a back seat to this meeting, as the front office may have to choose between Towns or Butler as its franchise player moving forward.
Butler is reportedly not hell-bent on a trade, but the situation is very much a possibility, given that he has ruffled feathers due to his strong personality and ultra-competitive spirit.
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