NBA Rumors: Butler Talks Breakdown, McCaw Waiting On Wolves To Decide Future

The Jimmy Butler situation continues to drag on with the Minnesota Timberwolves unable to agree on a deal with any interested franchise in order to fulfill the shooting guard’s trade request.

The start of the regular season is less than two weeks away and Butler continues to practice on his own, while the Timberwolves play their pre-season games. But the question of will he start the season with his current employers or not continues to hang in the air.

Butler is clear he wants to leave the Wolves, but if he does not get the trade, he is not keen to miss the regular season games. The trade deadline is Feb. 7 and he is not short of suitors.

The guard’s representatives have informed the Wolves that Miami Heat is Butler’s preferred destination and they were said to be holding talks with the franchise over a potential trade. But according to New York Times’s Marc Stein talks have broken down owing to Minnesota’s proposed deal changes.

“The Wolves and Heat were making significant progress on a Jimmy Butler trade this week, league sources say, before deal changes proposed by Minnesota led to a breakdown in talks,” Stein wrote on his official Twitter account Thursday.

“Deal specifics are not yet known but the Wolves and Heat, I'm told, have been discussing a trade without the involvement of a third team.”

The Butler trade talks have been in progress for over two weeks, but there has been no progress in terms of the Wolves reaching a deal with any of the interested franchise. Recent reports revealed the player’s representatives were frustrated with the franchise as they feel that they are purposely stalling any potential trade deal before the start of the new season.

The Wolves are said to have made it clear they will not sanction the trade until they are satisfied with the deal on the table. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the team hierarchy — namely coach Tom Thibodeau and the president of basketball operations — are set to try and persuade Butler to return to training in preparation for the new season.

“When the Timberwolves return from a West Coast preseason road trip early Thursday morning, president of basketball operations and coach Tom Thibodeau is expected to push for Butler to return to practice and start preparations for the regular season,” Wojnarowski said, as per ESPN.

Meanwhile, according to Keith Smith, Butler’s standoff with the Wolves is having an effect on Patrick McCaw’s contract standoff with the Golden State Warriors. It is being claimed he will only make a decision once shooting guard’s future is decided.

McCaw declined the Warriors’ $1.7 million qualifying offer and also their two-year $5.2 million offer to remain a restricted free agent. He is said to be waiting to see if a spot opens up on any roster once they complete a trade for Butler.

The 22-year-old shooting guard is said to be keen on more regular playing time rather than money at this point in his career. Something that is unlikely to be afforded by the Warriors in the upcoming season.