While Jimmy Butler has returned to the Minnesota Timberwolves, his trade request still stands and he expects it to be fulfilled.
“This isn’t changing me up, hell no,” Butler told The Athletic. “I do what I do. I’m going to guard to the best of my ability, score, get my rhythm back and help my team win. When I’m out there, nothing else matters. I just want to win.”
The Wolves are expected to use the first few games of the regular season to allow the roster to mesh and for trade offers to materialize again.
Butler is trying to ease the pressure on his teammates that comes from Tom Thibodeau.
“Just hoop, I told them, and I think that I can get Thibs to relax a little bit,” Butler told The Athletic. “He’s never going to say anything about offense as long as you go down there and play with effort on the defensive end and get a couple stops. It’s whenever you’re not getting stops when he starts yelling. I think Thibs has calmed down a lot, and guys are playing with effort. It’s never about offense. We’re always going to score enough points. It’s all about getting stops.
“Thibs didn’t exert as much energy as he always does the past few weeks. He needs to do that more: Sit down, take the load off and trust your guys to get a W.”