Tom Thibodeau is not believed to be ready yet to seriously negotiate a trade of Jimmy Butler.

The Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers have interest in Butler.

Butler will miss Wednesday's game, but he has told associates that he plans to play against the Warriors on Friday night.

Butler and his agent are frustrated by the Wolves slowly moving to honor his trade request.

Jimmy Butler could begin an extended absence in an effort to expedite a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Butler is sitting out Wednesday's game against the Utah Jazz.

The Timberwolves termed it "general soreness and precautionary rest,” but Butler informed Tom Thibodeau of his decision.

Butler requested a trade before the start of training camp.

The Wolves were close to a trade of Butler to the Miami Heat before the start of the season, but talks fell apart. The Houston Rockets have since been active in talks with the Wolves.

The Houston Rockets have offered four first round picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler.

The Wolves have continued to solicit offers for Butler since the start of the regular season.

The Rockets' offer constitutes the maximum number of first-round picks allowable in a deal, factoring in league rules that necessitate no first-rounders can be conveyed in successive years. The deal would have limited lottery protections.

The Rockets would have a strong desire to re-sign Butler in the offseason.

Anthony Davis will be eligible for a supermax contract this offseason, which will go a long ways to determining what the future of the NBA holds depending on whether he chooses to sign it.

If Davis decides not to sign the extension, the New Orleans Pelicans could look to trade him.

"My sense has always been with Anthony that he is always: some players are looking for reasons to stay and some players are looking for reasons to leave," said Adrian Wojnarowski on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective Show. "I've always thought that Anthony is a guy looking for reasons to stay in New Orleans. And I think that will continue to be the case until he feels he's out of them.

"I do think down the line that the Boston and L.A., if he became available, that will be interesting, especially if the Lakers get shut out this summer."

Jimmy Butler was booed by some fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves as he was introduced on Friday night, but ended up receiving "MVP" chants by the end of the game after scoring 33 points.

"I love it. I love it," Butler said. "I think people kind of love to hate me sometimes. Say whatever you want to say, but it really makes me smile, what people think about me. But no matter what, you gotta respect my effort."

Butler smiled at fans who jeered him, barked at Tom Thibodeau and walked right past Glen Taylor as the owner of the Wolves greeted players just before tipoff.

"You may not like me. That's OK," Butler said. "But as long as you know that my mind and my heart are in the right place, that I do everything to win and I would do anything for my guys."

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.”

Paul George revealed he would have signed with the Los Angeles Lakers had he never been traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Bit George said he fell in love with the Thunder and playing with Russell Westbrook. George re-signed with the Thunder on a four-year, $137 million contract.

"It was 50-50 on deciding whether I wanted to come back home or if it was smarter to be in the situation I am in now," George told The Undefeated. "But it wasn't overstated. I wanted to play in L.A. That is where I wanted to go. Had that trade never went down, had I played one more year in Indy, I would have been in a Lakers uniform."

The Lakers hoped to meet with George in free agency, but he instead quickly re-signed with the Thunder.

George said he spoke with LeBron James about his possible future plans before his trade to the Thunder, but they never had a similar conversation afterward.

"Going toward the summer and going toward free agency, I kind of had my mind made up talking with the team, talking with Russ and talking with the front-office," George said. "I kind of felt good where we were at. Last [season], I didn't get a chance to start with this team fresh. I got traded late. So, I picked up things late with the team. I wanted to get to it right away this time and start creating early."

Pat Riley informed the locker room of the Miami Heat that he would stick with the current roster to start the season in a show of loyalty the organization has for their current players.

The Heat have aggressively pursued a trade for Jimmy Butler, but talks are now dormant.

Miami has built their trade offer around Josh Richardson.

Jimmy Butler was in the starting lineup for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their regular season opener against the San Antonio Spurs.

“I just want to hoop and be out there with my soldiers, go to war, try to the best of my ability help us win,” Butler said before the game.

“I think we’ll bring it,” Butler said. “If not you’ll see me yelling at people. That’s what I’m supposed to do. You’ll see me talking to some guys nicely, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Butler has a standing trade request to leave the Wolves.

Glen Taylor talked about his agreement with Jimmy Butler that he would play for the Minnesota Timberwolves as they attempt to fulfill his trade request.

Taylor was asked whether Butler could eventually remain with the Wolves and re-sign with the team in the offseason.

“That is not part of the plan, but as you know, things can change,” Taylor said. “But that is not what we have agreed to.”

Taylor said he's committed to trading Butler.

“Yes. I think [Butler has] made it very clear that he would not re-sign with us at the end of the year and therefore it is in our interest to get a trade so that we can get a player or two to replace him that helps our team,” Taylor said.