The Jimmy Butler saga in Minnesota has been incredibly entertaining. One of the most entertaining parts of the story has been the information we received from a Timberwolves insider about Tom Thibodeau sabotaging deals for his disgruntled player.
On Thursday it was reported on ESPN Radio that the deal for Butler between the Timberwolves and Heat was all but completed before Thibs got on the phone with Pat Riley. The call ended with Riley calling Thibs a “motherf’er” before hanging up on him.
Sounds like Thibs was doing his best to sabotage the deal…
Via Bro Bible:
There’s been a couple of different incarnations of this deal. The first one, the Heat didn’t want to take back Gorgui Dieng. Then, the next incarnation of the deal was ‘OK forget it, let’s just do it straight up, just for Jimmy on your end.’ They finally relented on Josh Richardson, they were giving them Josh Richardson, then Dion Waiters was going to be the cap filler, and then a protected first-round pick. The medicals were exchanged, which generally in the NBA means this is a done deal. And then, Thibs called back and wanted more picks. And Pat Riley literally—I was told—called him a motherbleeper and hung up the phone.
It also sounds like Thibs is really enjoying the buzz he’s creating. There hasn’t been this much preseason talk about the Timberwolves, who probably will flush their season down the drain, in a long time.
