Jimmy Butler and the corrosive nature of leadership

A look into Jimmy Butler’s role on the Minnesota Timberwolves, and why he needed to go for the betterment of the franchise

There’s more to this game than just your skill. True, talent goes a long way in the NBA, but it’s not everything. In a league of 450 of the best players in the world, talent is almost a dime a dozen. One aspect of your game that teams do desire, though, is your leadership ability. If you can be a good leader, and a cool head in times of turmoil, you’ll always have a spot on an NBA roster.

That’s one reason why Jimmy Butler had to go.

Butler has always been known as a sort of “controversial” leader in the NBA; when you’re winning, he stays quite. But if you start to lose, a whole other Butler emerges. We saw it in 2015 when the Bulls lost five out of nine and Butler, according to an NBC Sports article, called out Holberg as being “too easy” on guys, we saw it on the Timberwolves with the infamous “third-stringer practice” (which was talked about on J.J Redick’s podcast and transcribed on the Ringer), and we saw it when ESPN reported that he began publicly questioning Brett Brown and the Sixers organization.

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What’s clear is that, much like his former coach Tom Thibodeau, Butler is a man who knows the style he wants to play in, wants his teammates to accommodate that style, and gets angry when they don’t. Yet another log was added to this fire when ESPN’s Jackie MacMullen wrote an emotional piece that outlined the effect that Butler had on Timberwolves teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, and to a lesser extent, former Bulls teammate Derrick Rose.

The article, which was started after Kentucky Coach John Calipari said that Butler had been, “bullying Towns”, went on to show the amazing support that Rose gave to the Timberwolves big man during Butler’s days with the Wolves, and outlined his role in bringing KAT back up to the dominant position that he once held.

Through all of this, Butler has argued that his actions just show the kind of leader he is. Which begs the question, is Butler’s leadership worth it? Let’s take a look at some of the stats.

In the 2015-16 season, the Bulls finished at 42-40, just missing the playoffs at the 9th seed in the East. They scored 101 points per game, the ninth worst average in the league, shot 46 percent from 2-point range, 29th in the league, and shot 44 percent from the field, which put them at 22nd in the league. Once Butler had left, the team did go down in just about every category.

However, that could have less to do with Butler’s leadership, and more to do with the fact that the best players the Bulls had on their team that year were Zach LaVine and Nikola Mirotic. Not horrible players by any standard, but certainly not the best players on a playoff team yet.

This season, the Minnesota Timberwolves sit at 21-24. Before trading Butler, the Timberwolves were 4-9 (.307). Since trading Butler, the Wolves have went 17-15 (.531). The Timberwolves have also seen a resurgence in stats since the early November trade. Before then, the Timberwolves averaged 108 points, 22 assists, and 42 rebounds per game on 42 percent field goal shooting. Since then, the Wolves have been averaging 110 points per game, 24 assists per game, and 44 rebounds per game on 44 percent field goal shooting.

Not only that, but Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Derrick Rose have all been having markedly better seasons since Butler’s exit.

We have yet to see how Butler will affect the Sixers organization, though, it will probably be evident come playoff time. Regardless, we have seen to morale impact that Butler has had on the team, and it hasn’t been stellar. According to ESPN, Simmons and Embiid have been getting into small disagreements lately, and the chemistry seems to be off as the team still tries to figure out what role each member of that big three will have.

One lesson we have for sure learned over this whole spectacle, is what an astounding leader Derrick Rose is. Rose, who had struggled to find a voice with any organization he was a part of, now seems to hold the critical position of veteran leader in the Timberwolves locker room. In Jackie MacMullen’s article, Rose stated,

"“There’s ways to communicate as a leader. I’m not going to talk to Taj Gibson the same way I talk to Gorgui [Dieng]. You have to put in your own personal time to learn each individual. I can say, ‘I know this guy is a little sensitive to that,’ and, ‘I know that guy can take it,’ so he ends up being the one I can yell at, ‘Get your ass over here.’“I wouldn’t say Jimmy is missing that chip … but maybe Jimmy has room to improve with that. He’s young too. I get both sides. You’ve gotta talk to KAT a little different. Jimmy didn’t really do that.”"

This shows an incredible level of poise and maturity that Rose brings to work everyday. And it seems that his teammates just can’t speak his praises highly enough, a distinct difference from that of Jimmy Butler.

However, there was one last remnant of the Jimmy Butler era in Minnesota, Head coach Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau had coerced owner Glenn Taylor to go along with everything that Butler wanted, according to a Woj article on ESPN, and that had hurt his chances at retaining his job after Butler left more than anything. Taylor didn’t want to trade for Butler to begin with, and he wanted to get rid of him shortly after he saw the problem Butler was turning out to be. But through it all, Thibodeau worked his magic on Taylor, and got him to trust in Butler and his Coach. That trust turned out to be misplaced, and that is a major reason why he’s gone now.

Now, the Timberwolves look to pick up the pieces and try to reassemble a team that can make another playoff push; hopefully, they can do it within the next 14 years. Things are starting to look up for the Minnesota franchise, they are 2-3 under a head coach that most if not all of the players love. Plus, they’ve picked up wins against some much better teams, including the Thunder and the Pelicans.

The Wolves are seeing the light at the end of this almost two-year long tunnel; with the organization averaging 112 points, 23 assists, and 41 rebounds a game, all on 42 percent shooting from the field. Certainly not outstanding numbers for the Timberwolves, but when you consider that’s coming off of not one but two major franchise shakeups, there’s a lot to be hopeful for in the future if you’re a fan of the Timberwolves.