Jimmy Butler will be in the squad for the Minnesota Timberwolves game against the Golden State Warriors, ESPN reported. He was missing the 128-125 victory over Utah Jazz.
Butler was probably only spared, the Timberwolves had described the reason for the failure as “general weariness and precautionary pause” dubiously. On Friday Butler will be in the Timberwolves squad again.
“My body is beaten and I don’t want to go out and risk an injury,” Butler explained regarding his non-participation in the game against the Utah Jazz. Nevertheless, he stressed that this was not related to a possible change.
Butler was irritated by rumours that he only wanted to spare himself for his new team: “People come up with something like this?
At the end of September, the All-Star had demanded a trade, but no deal had yet been made. Recently, the Houston Rockets were being talked about as potential trade partners; they already seem to be giving away four first-round picks for him.
The Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers also seem to be interested, but Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau is not yet ready to seriously discuss a departure of his star.
In his final match against Los Angeles Lakers, Butler scored 32 points in 37 minutes, including five three in the final quarter and led his current team to a 124-120 win. Minnesota is currently on a 4-4 balance.