Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor provided some inside information about the Jimmy Butler trade saga during an interview on Darren Wolfson’s “The Scoop” podcast.
“I have a responsibility to his teammates and to our fans,” said Taylor when asked about trading Butler. “We’re not going to get the perfect deal, I know that. I’ve got to be out there trying to get the very best deal that I can.”
What’s the hold up on a deal?
“Most of them [teams] don’t want to be disrupted this early into the season until they’ve sort of established their own track record,” said Taylor. “Some of that’s starting to pull out now, we’ve had some teams that have lost some games that they didn’t expect. It’s still pretty early but I think those are probably going to be the teams that will have the best opportunity to make a trade because they won’t be satisfied with their record and where they’re going.”
Taylor noted that about half the teams in the league have inquired about Butler’s availability, but the one team that’s lost games they didn’t expect to is Houston. The Rockets are without James Harden because of an injury and have started the season with one win and five losses.
Houston reportedly offered the Wolves four first-round picks for Butler last week, to which ESPN said shooting guard Eric Gordon would be a mandatory addition to any offer the Rockets make.
“We’ve talked to teams. I don’t think that any team has probably given us their best offer yet,” said Taylor. “That’s the part where we need to be patient and work with the other team. Ideally, you want a deal where both teams feel like they get good value.”
Taylor noted that Butler, who sat out Wednesday’s win over Utah for rest purposes, said he plans to play Friday night against the Warriors.
