The way Minnesota Timberwolves head coach and president Tom Thibodeau has handled Jimmy Butler's trade request reportedly hasn't sat well with many people in Minnesota's brass, and owner Glen Taylor could possibly fire Thibodeau after the season ends, according to Mitch Lawrence of Sporting News.
Lawrence reports that Taylor may look for someone who has strong Timberwolves ties, like former NBA player Chauncey Billups, who played two seasons in Minnesota during his career.
When he was with the Bulls, he wasn’t very popular within the team’s offices. He was viewed as arrogant and standoffish. Now, his same basketball-only tunnel vision hasn’t made many friends within the Minnesota franchise.
League execs expect that will lead Taylor to make a move after this season to bring in someone with strong Timberwolves ties, like Chauncey Billups, to run the team.
Tom Thibodeau has three years left on the five-year contract he signed in 2016, and is owed close to $40 million.
Jimmy Butler reportedly told Thibodeau four days after the Timberwolves were eliminated from the 2018 playoffs by the Houston Rockets that he wanted out of Minnesota. Thibodeau, however, didn’t take any action and was intent on keeping the four-time All-Star on the roster.
Chauncey Billups is currently an NBA analyst at ESPN. He passed up an offer to become the president of basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 because he knew Kyrie Irving was upset and didn't want to run an organization that was heading downhill.
LeBron James left the Cavs this summer and now Cleveland is one of the worst teams in the league again. Looks like Chauncey Billups made the right move by not taking the Cavs job.
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