Tom Thibodeau almost left Minnesota before Jimmy Butler
According to a report from ESPN, Tom Thibodeau was nearly fired by the Minnesota Timberwolves this past summer.
Although the Minnesota Timberwolves have finally traded Jimmy Butler, it appears that Butler wasn’t the first person on the Timberwolves agenda to wash their hands of. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor actually considered firing both Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden this past summer:
"Taylor considered firing Thibodeau and Layden in the summer — well before the Butler situation escalated — and has continued to consider possibilities to eventually replace both of them, league sources said. There’s immense pressure on Minnesota’s management structure to see dividends on this trade."
Taylor kept Thibodeau, and this weekend they traded Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers this. But the real question to consider is will Thibs keep his job in the near future. The Timberwolves are currently 4-9, and Butler’s trade removes some chaos from the locker room but plenty of talent from the floor.
Thibodeau was hired by the Timberwolves to be their head coach and president of basketball operations before the 2016-17 season to help develop their two young talents in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Although Timberwolves would miss the playoffs that year, the trade for Butler in the summer of 2017 would help the team experience a 16-win improvement for the 2017-18 season, going 47-35 before getting bounced out of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs to Houston last spring.
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With the disappointing results on the court and responsibility for the messy Butler trade negotiations, Thibodeau may be coaching for his job. He has to be hoping the additions of Robert Covington and Dario Saric and the franchise betting on KAT and Wiggins to emerge as superstars will pay off for the team and give Thibodeau the job security he desperately needs.