The NBA regular season provides nearly endless intriguing on a nightly basis of players visiting old friends, enemies or in the case of Jimmy Butler and his return to Minnesota, visiting both. There’s little way to know the reaction that Butler will get from Timberwolves fans ahead of time, but after openly requesting a trade earlier this season, with his new team headed to the postseason and Minnesota on the sidelines, there’s certainly the potential for some bitterness to brew. But that’s not everyone’s opinion. Timberwolves point guard Tyus Jones thinks that Butler is embracing his return to Minnesota, via Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“That’s my brother, so we talk quite often. He knows it’s going to be interesting coming back. … I think he’s more excited to get a chance to see everybody. This was home for him for a year. He still does have good memories here.”
It was back on Nov. 12 that the Timberwolves moved Butler and Justin Patton to Philadelphia in exchange for Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, Dario Saric and a future draft pick. Since then, the Timberwolves have been a franchise in flux, with head coach Tom Thibodeau fired during the season, ceding way to Ryan Saunders.
Covington has been injured and missed the majority of his Timberwolves tenure due to a knee injury. Butler is scheduled to hit the open market as a free agent this summer, having previously expressed his displeasure with the Minnesota organization. In two career meetings against his first franchise, the Chicago Bulls, Butler is averaging 30 points per game, which could mean Timberwolves fans are in for some fireworks come Saturday.
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