On draft night most NBA teams collect guys who will be rookies in the fall. The Timberwolves landed a three-time All Star, though, by making a deal for Jimmy Butler.
ESPN and the Associated Press were among those reporting that the Wolves are packaging their first-round draft pick, Lauri Markkanen, along with Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn in exchange for Butler and the Bulls’ first round pick, 7-footer Justin Patton from Creighton University.
Bringing Butler to the Twin Cities reunites him with his former Bulls coach, Tom Thibodeau. The 6’7″ swingman also gives the Wolves a hard-nosed defender and a veteran talent to complement their young core of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
😭 RT @Bballforeverfb: Welcome to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jimmy Butler. This team gonna be scary. ❄️ pic.twitter.com/WWllHVltdQ
— Ashley Nics (@AshleyNics_) June 23, 2017
Jimmy Butler has already changed his Instagram bio. "tomball to Minnesota forever". Love it. pic.twitter.com/eu3CgIsktP
— On The Prowl (@ontheprowl_MN) June 23, 2017
When he joined the Bulls out of Marquette University in 2011, Butler was best known for his defense. But the rest of his game steadily improved in his Chicago years, leading to career highs this past season in scoring (23.9 points per game), rebounds (6.2), and assists (5.5).
Patton, 20, played one year of college ball at Creighton. He was a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the nation’s top center.
He’s not one of those 7-footers who camp out at the three point stripe. On more than two-thirds of the shots he took in college he was in the paint, SB Nation notes, and he made more than 80 percent of those.
