F Jimmy Butler added 21 points and 10 assists in the Timberwolves' win over the Jazz on Monday night.

G Jimmy Butler tied a season high with 25 points as Minnesota was handed a 118-110 loss at Phoenix Saturday. Butler also scored 25 points Oct. 27 vs. Oklahoma City.

CLEVELAND -- Thaddeus Young scored 26 points to lead all five Indiana Pacers starters in double figures in a 124-107 blowout of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.The Cavs, the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions, are in a free fall. They have lost four straight and five of six games, including the last three by 58 points.Darren Collison added 25 points for the Pacers, who also received 23 from Victor Oladipo, 17 from Bojan Bogdanovic and 15 from Domantas Sabonis.LeBron James led the Cavs with 33 points and 11 assists, though he committed a game-high eight turnovers. Derrick Rose added 19 points, and Jeff Green scored 15 off the Cleveland bench.Hornets 126, Bucks 121CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rookie Malik Monk scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as Charlotte beat Milwaukee.Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 26 points.Khris Middleton scored a career-high 43 points, but Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 14 points. The "Greek Freak" entered the game leading... [More]

CLEVELAND -- Thaddeus Young scored 26 points to lead all five Indiana Pacers starters in double figures in a 124-107 blowout of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.The Cavs, the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions, are in a free fall. They have lost four straight and five of six games, including the last three by 58 points.Darren Collison added 25 points for the Pacers, who also received 23 from Victor Oladipo, 17 from Bojan Bogdanovic and 15 from Domantas Sabonis.LeBron James led the Cavs with 33 points and 11 assists, though he committed a game-high eight turnovers. Derrick Rose added 19 points, and Jeff Green scored 15 off the Cleveland bench.Hornets 126, Bucks 121CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rookie Malik Monk scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as Charlotte beat Milwaukee.Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 26 points.Khris Middleton scored a career-high 43 points, but Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 14 points. The "Greek Freak" entered the game leading... [More]

G Jimmy Butler made the key play in the final minute of a deadlocked game, draining a 20-foot jumper after pump-faking E'Twaun Moore off his feet, then completed the three-point play with a free throw to seal a 104-98 victory over New Orleans.Butler said Moore was "thirsty" on the key possession with the score tied at 98. "I knew (Moore) was playing some aggressive defense," Butler said, "(So I) gave him a little shot fake, showed him the ball a little bit. It's crazy to me, though, because I make the hard ones and I cannot make wide-open jump shots to save my life right now." Butler also made three foul shots in the final 19.7 seconds to finish with a team-high 23 points. He is averaging 21.3 points in his last three games following a two-game absence with an upper-respiratory infection.

G Jimmy Butler finished with 16 points Monday.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 119-116 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.Karl-Anthony Towns had season highs with 33 points and 19 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 17 points and 10 assists for Minnesota, which beat Oklahoma City last Sunday on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Andrew Wiggins.Wiggins chipped in 14 points on Friday, and Taj Gibson had his best game with the Timberwolves with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds.Russell Westbrook had 27 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder, who have lost three of their past four games. Carmelo Anthony and Paul George each scored 23 points for Oklahoma City.Warriors 120, Wizards 117OAKLAND -- Golden State shook off a terrible shooting effort in the first half and the loss of forward Draymond Green to a technical foul to erase an 18-point second-half deficit.The Warriors missed on 17 of 20 3-point... [More]

G Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Timberwolves on Friday. "I hope that's part of my role here, to make sure that everybody's doing the right things, playing with energy on both ends of the floor," Butler said. "We've got a really talented group of guys, man. When everybody's clicking like that and we're executing -- yeah, we had some hiccups today -- but when everybody's moving that ball, swinging that ball, we're playing team defense and team offense, and team everything, we're going to be alright."

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 119-116 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.Karl-Anthony Towns had season highs with 33 points and 19 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 17 points and 10 assists for Minnesota, which beat Oklahoma City last Sunday on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Andrew Wiggins.Wiggins chipped in 14 points on Friday, and Taj Gibson had his best game with the Timberwolves with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds.Russell Westbrook had 27 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder, who have lost three of their past four games. Carmelo Anthony and Paul George each scored 23 points for Oklahoma City.Warriors 120, Wizards 117OAKLAND -- Golden State shook off a terrible shooting effort in the first half and the loss of forward Draymond Green to a technical foul to erase an 18-point second-half deficit.The Warriors missed on 17 of 20 3-point... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 119-116 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.Karl-Anthony Towns had season highs with 33 points and 19 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 17 points and 10 assists for Minnesota, which beat Oklahoma City last Sunday on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Andrew Wiggins.Wiggins chipped in 14 points on Friday, and Taj Gibson had his best game with the Timberwolves with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds.Russell Westbrook had 27 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder, who have lost three of their past four games. Carmelo Anthony and Paul George each scored 23 points for Oklahoma City.Nuggets 105, Hawks 100ATLANTA -- The Denver Nuggets snapped a five-season losing streak in Atlanta, spoiling the Hawks' home opener and making a winner of Paul Millsap in his return to Philips Arena.Milllsap scored seven of his 16 points down... [More]

G Jimmy Butler missed a second consecutive game. Butler is recovering from an upper-respiratory infection.

G Jimmy Butler (upper respitory infection) missed Tuesday's game against the Pacers. Butler averaged 13.3 points in his first three games with Minnesota this season.

G Jimmy Butler, one of Minnesota's flashy offseason signings, scored 12 points in his debut with his new team. He clearly was disappointed with the outcome. "We didn't rebound like we were capable of, and we turned the ball over late in the game and we can't do that."

Power forward Blake Griffin opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and point guard Chris Paul will do the same sometime next week, according to multiple published reports.The decisions would make both players unrestricted free agents on July 1.The departure of the two stars could possibly leave the Clippers in a reorganization mode after the current group has been unable to reach the Western Conference finals. Neither player is expected to fully close the door on a possible return.Speculation has Paul being a target of the San Antonio Spurs. The nine-time All-Star averaged 18.1 points and 9.2 assists last season.Griffin could be highly pursued by his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder to give Russell Westbrook a high-impact running mate that was missing last season after Kevin Durant's departure. The five-time All-Star averaged 21.6 points and 8.1 rebounds last season but has been plagued by injuries over the past three seasons.--Finding an identity under coach Fred... [More]

Finding an identity under coach Fred Hoiberg meant trading the face of the franchise for the Chicago Bulls.All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler was relocated to the Minnesota Timberwolves after more than a year of simmering trade talks involving Butler, who reunites with former coach Tom Thibodeau. "What we've done," Bulls vice president John Paxson said, "is set a direction. We've decided to make the change and rebuild this roster. We're going to do it with young players we believe can play a system Fred is comfortable with."Last summer, the Bulls parted with Joakim Noah and traded former point guard Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks. Another step away from contention and into rebuilding mode was the best path, per Paxson."We understand what this means," Paxson said. "It's going to be a difficult process."Hoiberg installed a run-and-gun system predicated on successful 3-point shooting. But Butler and Dwyane Wade were the centerpieces of the offense -- one piloted by pass-first, light-shooting... [More]

NEW YORK -- For the last four years, the mantra of the Philadelphia 76ers has been "trust the process."As the anticipation intensified and commissioner Adam Silver said the 76ers "were on the clock," fans at Barclays Center began chanting to express their excitement to another young piece being added to Philadelphia.With about 90 seconds left in the Sixers' allotted five minutes, Markelle Fultz officially became the first overall pick in Thursday's draft.The former Washington point guard averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 25 games. In his only collegiate season, Fultz shot 47.6 percent from the field, made 41.3 percent of his 3-point attempts, reached double figures 24 times and set a school record for points by a freshman with 579."I'm very excited really, just like the fans in Philly, how they back up their players and everything like that," Fultz said. "And I'm just looking forward to going in there and giving it my all and hopefully changing the program around."The... [More]

Jimmy Butler is being reunited with Tom Thibodeau.Moments before the Los Angeles Lakers made Lonzo Ball the second pick of Thursday's NBA draft, multiple outlets reported Butler was going to be dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves.NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the trade later in the evening.Butler was dealt for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the rights to Lauri Markkanen. Also going to Minnesota are the rights to Justin Patton, who was picked at No. 16 by the Bulls.Butler was the 30th overall pick by the Bulls in 2011 out of Marquette. He averaged a career-high 23.9 points last season as the Bulls were 41-41 and qualified for the postseason as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.Thibodeau coached Butler from 2011 to 2015 before being fired. He joined the Timberwolves last season with the dual title of coach and head of basketball operations.Last season, the teams worked on a potential deal for Butler, but talks collapsed based on the belief that Chicago's demands were too high.... [More]

Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade is picking up his $23.8 million player option for next season.The 35-year-old Wade informed the Bulls of his decision Tuesday night. The former Miami Heat star had until June 27 to inform the team.When asked by TNT about his decision, Wade said: "24 million reasons."The Chicago native averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his first season with the Bulls in 2016-17. He played in 60 games and was sidelined late in the season with a fractured elbow. The scoring average was the second lowest of his 14-year career."18.3 points a game in 29 mins on 43 percent shooting at 35 years old. if I'm 25 with the same numbers I'm getting 150 million," Wade wrote on Twitter just after midnight Wednesday morning.Wade told the Bulls he did not want to be part of a rebuilding process and his decision came with the team at the center of trade rumors involving All-Star Jimmy Butler before Thursday night's NBA Draft.The Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics,... [More]

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Dwyane Wade is reportedly leaning toward exercising his $24 million player option to remain with the franchise next season.The 35-year-old Wade has until June 27 to make a decision.The Chicago native averaged 18.3 points in his first season with the Bulls. He played in 60 games and was sidelined late in the season with a fractured elbow. The scoring average was the second lowest of his 14-year career.Wade told the Bulls he didn't want to be part of a rebuilding process, so the former Miami Heat star is certainly closely watching the situation involving All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler.The Bulls are shopping Butler leading up to Thursday's NBA Draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly expressed interest and could be willing to part with power forward Kevin Love as part of a three-team trade.Butler will reportedly push the Bulls' front office to get a deal done with the Cavaliers, the Chicago Sun Times reports. The newspaper also reported that multiple Cavs players, including stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, have reached out to Butler to gauge his interest. The Boston Celtics, who have a slew of draft picks to offer, are also reportedly interested in Butler.

G Jimmy Butler, hobbled by knee soreness, led Chicago with 23 points.Butler played 31 minutes despite dealing with knee soreness. Asked if Butler had taken any medication for the soreness, coach Fred Hoiberg said he did not know. "He's obviously got some soreness, but Jimmy's going to fight through it," Hoiberg said before Friday's game. "He's a warrior, he's a guy that is as well-conditioned as anyone in this league and he's going to go out and give everything that he has."