News for Jimmy Butler - 2018 8 Category, $200 Cap, 4G/4F/2C

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Wed Oct 31 201813:59Wolves hold Butler out vs. Jazz for 'precautionary rest'
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have ruled out All-Star Jimmy Butler for their game against Utah for what they're calling "precautionary rest."Coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters at the morning shootaround Wednesday that Butler's absence wasn't related to his trade request. Butler scored 32 points in 37 minutes in Minnesota's win Monday against the Los Angeles Lakers. Players didn't practice Tuesday.Thibodeau was noncommittal about whether Butler would join the team on the upcoming road trip, with the first stop Friday to face the Golden State Warriors.The Wolves also have declared point guard Jeff Teague out against the Jazz with a sore left knee. He was hurt in the game against the Lakers.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Fri Oct 26 201819:34Andrew Wiggins out, Jimmy Butler in as Wolves host Bucks
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins will miss his second straight game with a right quadriceps contusion as Minnesota hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.While Wiggins was declared out less than an hour before the game, the Wolves will have Jimmy Butler in the starting lineup. Butler had been considered questionable with an illness.Wiggins is averaging 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season. Butler, who has requested a trade, leads the team with 24.8 points per game and leads the league with 3.75 steals per game while missing one game.Minnesota is 2-0 at home this season. Milwaukee is 4-0 for the third time in franchise history.
Mon Oct 15 201813:31Jimmy Butler to ESPN: I was 'brutally honest' with Wolves
Jimmy Butler is back with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and his first practice of the season had fireworks.He caused them — with his words and his play.Butler, who asked for a trade more than three weeks ago, practiced with the Timberwolves for the first time this season in Minneapolis on Wednesday. ESPN reported that Butler verbally challenged players, coaches and even general manager Scott Layden in the practice, during which Butler dominated the team's scrimmages even when going up against stars like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.In an interview taped with ESPN after practice, Butler acknowledged that "a lot" of the network's report was true and that the scene in practice was him just showing passion and being "brutally honest.""All my emotion came out at one time," Butler said in the interview. "Was it the right way to do it? No. But I can't control that when I'm out there competing. That's my love of the game. That's raw me. Me at my finest, me at my purest. That's what you're... [More]
Mon Oct 15 201813:28As Butler drama lingers, Wolves aim for return to playoffs
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves parlayed the arrival of Jimmy Butler into the franchise's first appearance in the playoffs in 14 years.Butler, naturally, has been the focal point for Minnesota with the start of this season fast approaching, but in a most surprising and distracting way.Butler's request for a trade has yet to be fulfilled. After three consecutive lackluster preseason performances by the Timberwolves, Butler joined practice on Wednesday and created quite a stir by verbally challenging teammates and executives during the session.The opener at San Antonio is just a week away and coach Tom Thibodeau wants Butler to remain with Minnesota despite his adamant refusal to re-sign with the team before he can opt out of his contract next summer. So the possibility remains that the 29-year-old Butler would take the court for the Wolves with an awkward-at-best atmosphere surrounding their 30th season as a franchise.Butler's stance about wanting to be elsewhere,... [More]
Mon Oct 15 201813:19Butler misses T-Wolves shootaround amid trade-demand drama
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jimmy Butler was absent as the Minnesota Timberwolves wrapped up preparations for their preseason finale Friday night.Butler has demanded a trade but returned to practice with the team Wednesday, a session that included him verbally challenging teammates and coaches. He was not with the team at Friday's shootaround in Milwaukee.Coach Tom Thibodeau, speaking publicly for the first time since Wednesday's practice, said Butler was doing conditioning work in Minneapolis and had not been suspended.Asked if Butler would play in Minnesota's regular-season opener at San Antonio next Wednesday, Thibodeau said: "The situation remains fluid."Butler told ESPN following Wednesday's practice that his issues with the Timberwolves have not been fixed."Let's just be honest. It could be," Butler said in the interview. "But do I think so? No."Center Karl-Anthony Towns would not address what happened at that practice or whether a players' meeting was held Thursday."I think the only thing that... [More]
Mon Oct 15 201813:03Butler practices again with Wolves, as opener nears
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jimmy Butler is still suiting up for the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the opener three days away.Despite his preference to play elsewhere, signs have begun to point to him staying with the Timberwolves at least to start the season. Butler took part in practice on Sunday, the second time he has done so since training camp began with his trade request as the focal point of the team."They want me to go out here and hoop to the best of my abilities," Butler said. "Make sure I'm healthy, compete, because that's what I love to do, and do it for the guys in the same jerseys as me."Butler made a surprising, and reportedly disruptive, appearance with the Wolves during their workout on Wednesday. They canceled practice on Thursday, after Butler went on ESPN to try to explain his motivations and frustrations in a wide-ranging interview that included criticism of the consistency of the effort by teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. When the Wolves played a preseason game... [More]
Sun Oct 7 201820:20Timberwolves march on despite Butler drama
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Jimmy Butler may or may not be traded before Minnesota opens the season on Oct. 17 at San Antonio.However, it appears increasingly inevitable that the Butler won't be with the Timberwolves this season — and they've only got one more chance to start learning how to play without the four-time All-Star before the games start counting.Minnesota played its second-to-last preseason game on Sunday night at Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State's home floor. The Timberwolves' G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, play roughly 30 miles away in Des Moines. It was the first game at Hilton, one of the loudest arenas in all of college basketball, since 1999 — and it drew a near-capacity crowd.From there it's a trip to Milwaukee's new arena on Friday and then a few days off ahead of the opener. And although the Butler drama has seemingly put the organization in a bind, Thibodeau warned against letting it become more of a distraction than it already is."Focus on the people that are here and get... [More]
Sun Oct 7 201820:10Timberwolves march on despite Butler drama
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Jimmy Butler may or may not be traded before Minnesota opens the season on Oct. 17 at San Antonio.However, it appears increasingly inevitable that the Butler won't be with the Timberwolves this season — and they've only got one more chance to start learning how to play without the four-time All-Star before the games start counting.Minnesota played its second-to-last preseason game on Sunday night at Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State's home floor. The Timberwolves' G-League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, play roughly 30 miles away in Des Moines.From there it's a trip to Milwaukee's new arena on Friday and then a few days off ahead of the opener. And although the Butler drama has seemingly put the organization in a bind, Thibodeau warned against letting it become more of a distraction than it already is."Focus on the people that are here and get ready to play. That's it," Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. "We've got a long season, and if you look you can get distracted... [More]
Fri Oct 5 201815:59'We're trying': Thibodeau offers update on Butler situation
Jimmy Butler is still with the Minnesota Timberwolves, at least in an official sense.In reality, it remains a mess.Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau Friday acknowledged the team's efforts to grant Butler's trade request."Obviously, we're trying to get something done," Thibodeau told reporters in Minneapolis.What that "something" is, that's still unknown.Friday was Day 18 of the Butler saga, starting from when the four-time All-Star swingman told Thibodeau of his desire to play elsewhere. Butler has not practiced with the Timberwolves during training camp, and Friday night's Wolves preseason game against Oklahoma City will be the third exhibition that he's missed — with no end to the impasse in sight.Multiple teams have been engaged in trade talks with the Timberwolves since Butler's intentions to play elsewhere became known. Miami is one of those teams, and has been involved in the Butler negotiations with Minnesota almost from the very beginning. A person with knowledge of those negotiations... [More]
Thu Sep 27 201817:18With Butler trade looming, Wolves take trip west for bonding
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For a team that didn't make any major moves during the summer, the Minnesota Timberwolves sure have their share of new players this season.The critical process of familiarization and integration will speed up over the next week, in the form of a trip to California to continue training camp and play a couple of exhibition games while Jimmy Butler's unresolved trade request looms in the background .The Timberwolves will be out of town for seven days, a prime time for bonding."They can spend a lot of time together. We'll have good practices, some film sessions, some team dinners, so I think it's good," coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday, before the traveling party boarded a plane for the Bay Area. The Wolves play the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Friday night.With draft picks Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop and veterans Anthony Tolliver and Luol Deng, the Wolves will sport a significantly different look to their bench. When — or if, as Thibodeau has insisted... [More]
Tue Sep 25 201815:07Heat, Spoelstra look at camp as extension of last season
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Part of Miami coach Erik Spoelstra's annual mandate to players, whether a 16-year veteran like Dwyane Wade or a second-year guy like Bam Adebayo, is to evolve.Spoelstra expects the same from himself.The Heat opened training camp on Tuesday with players who accounted for 98 percent of their scoring, 98 percent of their assists and 97 percent of their rebounding from last season. And keeping the same team means that those players, by now, have heard just about every speech and seen just about every trick in the Heat book.Hence, the challenge for Spoelstra this season: Keeping the message and the approach fresh."I look back on it now and I don't even know how I prepared for my first training camp," Spoelstra said after the first practice of the season at Florida Atlantic University. "With this group, this probably felt more like a practice and an extension of last year's playoff prep because we had so many familiar faces. So that was nice."Wade was back in Heat camp... [More]
Mon Sep 24 201819:17Building Bulls look to Markkanen, LaVine for heavy lifting
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls won't make any bold predictions about Year Two of their rebuilding project. They also won't deny that a growth spurt on the court for Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine would accelerate the process in a big, big way.The 23-year-old LaVine and 21-year-old Markkanen were front and center Monday, when the team held its media day amid cautious optimism for the season ahead."I want to see growth," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Last year guys made significant progress in their careers, but it's our job now to take that to the next level."That goes for Markkanen and LaVine in particular.LaVine, Markkanen and guard Kris Dunn were part of the Jimmy Butler trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves shortly after the 2016-17 season. They will be the linchpins of a more up-tempo offense that plays to their athleticism and one that Hoiberg prefers. Camp opens as the Timberwolves listen to trade offers for the unhappy Butler after just one season."(Butler) did a lot of really good... [More]
Mon Sep 24 201819:09As Butler casts shadow, Nets focused on taking 'small steps'
NEW YORK (AP) — For the Brooklyn Nets, familiarity breeds continuity.They hope that will lead to a few more wins.Growth was the overarching theme during media day at the Nets' practice facility Monday. Entering its third season under general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn has won 48 of 164 games. In the first season under the new regime, the Nets won 20 games. Last year, that number increased to 28.So the goal for this season is progression."Knowing how the rebuild process goes, we're going to have to slowly get back," Jarrett Allen said. "It's just small steps we're taking."Ten of the 19 players the Nets have on their preseason roster have five or fewer years of NBA experience, including five rookies.But there are questions about how long and how many of the Nets' young pieces will remain in Brooklyn. The Nets will have plenty of money for free agency next summer, but they may not want to wait if they could trade for Minnesota's Jimmy Butler or another All-Star player.Spencer... [More]
Mon Sep 24 201818:27Thibodeau: Wolves will deal Butler if offer is 'good for us'
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have started their 30th season amid more drama and dysfunction, an all-too-familiar feeling.Jimmy Butler, the four-time All-Star shooting guard whose heralded arrival from Chicago sparked a 16-win improvement and an end to a 13-year absence from the playoffs, told president of basketball operations and head coach Tom Thibodeau last week he wants to be traded and won't re-sign with the team.Talk about bad timing, even by Timberwolves standards."It's not the first time a player has made that type of request, nor will it be the last, and our job is to seek out the best opportunity for us." Thibodeau said. "If something's good for us, then we're interested in doing it. If not, then we're ready to move forward the other way."While most players dismissed the notion of a major distraction during their media sessions on Monday at the commencement of training camp, power forward Taj Gibson bluntly declared Butler's decision a significant setback to the... [More]
Mon Sep 24 201818:18From Lob City to Clamp City: Clippers seeking new identity
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Big Three have cleared out and Lob City is no more.For the first time in 10 years, the Los Angeles Clippers will soon begin a season without DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin or Chris Paul on the roster.So just who is this team?Well, coach Doc Rivers isn't sure yet.But Patrick Beverley offers a bold take: Clamp City."You got two of the best on-ball defenders in the league," he said, referring to himself and Avery Bradley. "We can be a defensive juggernaut."Despite coming off a season in which the team missed the playoffs for the first time in his five-year tenure and LeBron James joining the Lakers, Rivers feels good about the Clippers' future."This is the healthiest this franchise has been," the coach said Monday. "We never had flexibility and now we have flexibility. We have an owner who is willing to do whatever it takes."Heck, even All-Star Jimmy Butler of Minnesota is saying he'd like to be a Clipper.And Luc Mbah a Moute decided to return as a free agent, impressed... [More]
Sun Sep 23 201817:06Heat camp arrives, and Dragic says he's more than ready
MIAMI (AP) — This time last year, Miami's Goran Dragic was already tired and the season was just getting started.It's very different now.When the Heat hold their first practice of the season Tuesday, Dragic expects to be as rested and ready as he's been for any training camp in years. The point guard who went to his first All-Star Game last season wore down as the year went along, in part because of the grind he put himself through last summer while leading his native Slovenia to the European championship.This summer, he played less — and is hoping that pays off this season."I feel amazing. I feel great," Dragic said. "I think one of the smartest moves I made was retiring from the national team, because I feel energized and pumped for this season. I always kind of hit a wall toward the end of a season, but I feel like this season is going to be a totally different story."At 32, Dragic is Miami's third-oldest player — among those in the Heat locker room, only Udonis Haslem (38) and the entering-his-final-season... [More]
Sat Sep 22 201822:16AP Source: Towns getting $190 million extension from Wolves
Karl-Anthony Towns is getting a new deal from the Minnesota Timberwolves.Jimmy Butler is still waiting to get a new address.Towns announced Saturday night that he is recommitting to the Timberwolves, securing his future there while Butler's remains a mystery. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Towns will be signing a five-year super-max extension worth $190 million.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the team nor Towns publicly revealed the financial terms of the deal. Towns posted a video to social media with the wording "5 More" — a clear nod to the length of the contract."On June 25th, 2015, I was drafted to and committed to the Minnesota Timberwolves," Towns wrote in an Instagram post. "On September 22nd, 2018, I made a recommitment to the Wolves and have the same feelings of excitement that I felt back in 2015."Towns is going into his fourth season, was an All-Star for the first time a year ago and was the Timberwolves'... [More]
Sat Sep 22 201822:06AP Source: Towns getting $190 million extension from Wolves
Karl-Anthony Towns announced Saturday night that he is recommitting to the Minnesota Timberwolves, securing his future there while Jimmy Butler's remains a mystery.A person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that Towns will be signing a five-year super-max extension worth $190 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the team nor Towns revealed the financial terms of the deal.Towns announced part of the deal through social media, saying "5 More" — a clear nod to the length of the contract.Butler told the Timberwolves several days ago that he would like to be traded and will not be signing an extension to stay with them after this season.
Thu Sep 20 201815:45Knicks won't rush Porzingis or future building plans
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis is back with his teammates, though the New York Knicks don't know when he'll be back on the court.Joakim Noah won't be back, though the terms of his departure still are being negotiated.So while there are questions, the Knicks also feel they have certainty with the way they are building their team.They insist their future first-round draft picks will be used to select players for their own team, not to be dangled in trades that could land them an established player."We're committed to following a plan and not just shifting and pivoting because we see something that we think is attractive and might fast track something," Knicks president Steve Mills said Thursday. "I've seen that happen and go wrong too many times and that's not what we're going to do."It's happened in New York, where the Knicks traded young players and future assets in 2011 to acquire Carmelo Anthony, rather than sign him the following summer as a free agent with the cap space they had.... [More]
Thu Sep 20 201814:05On Basketball: Butler made his move _ now it's Wolves' turn
MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler knows that NBA players can force their way into trades.Forcing their way into a trade that suits the player, that's an entirely different story.Butler has told the Minnesota Timberwolves that he has no intentions of re-signing with the club next summer, his way of saying "trade me now" or "lose me for nothing later." The Athletic first reported Butler's decision.It's a power move that players can make.Thing is, it comes with risk — because what happens next is not up to Butler.This was the lesson learned from the Kawhi Leonard situation, from the Kyrie Irving situation, from the Paul George situation. Leonard supposedly was hoping for a trade from San Antonio to the Los Angeles Clippers. Irving wanted to be sent by Cleveland to either San Antonio and Miami. George was widely assumed to leave Indiana for the Los Angeles Lakers.Leonard is in Toronto , at least for one season.Irving got sent to Boston , and is a free agent next summer.George landed in Oklahoma City,... [More]
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