Minnesota Timberwolves: Complete 2017 offseason grades

Blockbuster trade on draft night

The 2017 NBA Draft was very exciting for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They made a franchise-changing trade that set the tone for the rest of the offseason.

The Timberwolves sent Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls. In return they received three-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick of the draft. This trade officially set the tone for both franchises: The Bulls are rebuilding and the Timberwolves are ready to win.

The fact that the Timberwolves received a first round draft pick in addition to Jimmy Butler made the trade even better. That did not seem likely to happen based on prior talks between the two teams. It was starting to look like the Timberwolves were going to have to part ways with Andrew Wiggins to get Jimmy Butler.

They somehow managed to keep Wiggins and still get Butler. For that reason, the Timberwolves are the clear winners of that trade that set the tone of the offseason. Many NBA fans are starting to realize how good of a deal the Wolves got after seeing how much the Boston Celtics may have to give up for a worse overall player in Kyrie Irving.

After being the face of the Chicago Bulls, Butler is ready to just play his role in helping the Timberwolves win this upcoming season. He told the following to the Chicago Sun-Times in a phone interview when asked about what it meant to get traded as the face of the franchise.

"“It doesn’t mean a damn thing, I guess being called the face of an organization isn’t as good as I thought. We all see where being the so-called face of the Chicago Bulls got me. So let me be just a player for the Timberwolves, man. That’s all I want to do. I just want to be winning games. Do what I can for my respective organization and let them realize what I’m trying to do.”"

Jimmy Butler will not have to worry about being the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Towns has that covered.

Grade: A