Moving Forward After Jimmy Butler Trade Rumors

In light of trade rumors surrounding Jimmy Butler, the Minnesota Timberwolves seem to be looking to contend. With a young roster, it’s not time yet.

I’m still on the fence about the Minnesota Timberwolves not jumping on the Jimmy Butler trade.

That’s not to belittle or underrate Jimmy Butler’s skills. He’s clearly one of the best 15 players in the league, could defend multiple positions, has the ability to score and create on offense and has some familiarity with new T-Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau and his system.

Whenever you can add a player of Butler’s caliber, you often do it and ask questions later.

However, we have seen the results of rushing the process of building around a star player. Look down in New Orleans with Anthony Davis.

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The Pelicans made some peculiar moves since drafting Davis; giving up three picks for Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik, trading Robin Lopez for Tyreke Evans and signing Omer Asik to a monster contract after the trade.

The Pelicans, as a result, found themselves without assets and stuck looking for one more big move.

The rumors of Jimmy Butler to Minnesota being thwarted by the Wolves not wanting to give up Zach LaVine and the fifth overall pick in this past Thursday’s draft seemed crazy to me.

However, I’m a bit happy to see the Wolves decline because I want the progression and development around Karl-Anthony Towns to be a bit more organic than what New Orleans did around Davis the last four years.

The selection of Kris Dunn fifth overall puts Minnesota in an excellent position. Towns as the young leader at the top with Andrew Wiggins as a potential two-way wing.

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LaVine has all the size and upside to be a tantalizing talent, while

and

are solid contributors. Add

and his abilities and you have a fun team to watch even before free agency.

It is there where the Wolves should fix their three-point shooting deficiencies.

Minnesota finished 29th in the league in three-point attempts, makes and rate last season, leading only the Milwaukee Bucks. They had one of the worst three-point rates in the league and their best lineup featured little to no outside shooters.

In a league where most teams are spacing the floor, part of Minnesota’s down 2015-16 season came because they continued to lose the numbers game. Next season, I imagine the Wolves will have several players who can space the floor.

Allen Crabbe makes sense as someone who can both space the floor and fit into Minnesota’s timeline with Towns. He’s only 23 years old and showed promise as a defender in extended minutes. He’s also going to cost a pretty penny as one of the few swingmen in free agency.

Still, the idea of Rubio, Crabbe and Wiggins gives Minnesota some length and size on defense for Thibodeau to work with.

I also envision some of the lower level guys working out for Minnesota. Darrell Arthur isn’t a big name, but he just recently declined his player option in Denver and makes sense for Minnesota.

A tad older at 28 years old, Arthur is a tough defender who can also make some shots from the outside. In 2013, Arthur knocked down 37 percent of his threes. Last season, he made 38 percent.

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Other guys who make sense are

(not a great shooter, but knocked them down in the playoffs and gives Minnesota another defender who can play the perimeter),

(quietly knocked down 36 percent on 100-plus attempts last year) and if you believe in the defensive pieces on the roster, adding someone like

and his ability to shoot in spurts makes sense.

The Wolves adding Dunn apparently makes Rubio expandable, but even then, I think they should wait before handing the keys to Dunn. Rubio is an underrated player who can defend and create for others. His shooting is a black eye on an otherwise talented player.

To me, you keep Rubio and Dunn for at least the middle of next season.

The Wolves have the pieces on the floor and the head coach on the sideline to become a good team really fast. The Jimmy Butler trade would’ve completed that transition, but it also removes some of your options on the roster and creates the expectation of winning right away.

By not making that move, it allows this roster to develop and gives Thibodeau time to see what he has before shipping players out.

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At the very least, the lack of trades should allow the Wolves to continue to grow and see who can develop into proper fits under Thibodeau.