Adding an All-Star in the NBA Draft isn’t an easy thing to do.
The Timberwolves did just that on Thursday night, just not the conventional way.
Minnesota agreed to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the No. 7 overall pick, Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine. The Wolves also acquired the No. 16 overall pick, which ended up being Creighton center Justin Patton.
“I think as time went along, we realized the depth and the activity we were getting on the seventh pick,” Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau said after the draft. “We were looking at all the possibilities . . . We felt if we had the opportunity to get a player of Jimmy’s caliber that we would do it.”
The move reunites Butler and Thibodeau. The two were together from 2011-2015 in Chicago and appeared in the playoffs every season. During that stretch, the Bulls were 193-119 (61.9-win percentage).
With Thibodeau, Butler saw his points per game average jump from 2.6 points to 20.0, which included a 2014-15 All-Star nod.
“I think it’ll be big. Jimmy found his way immediately defensively he was very good,” Thibodeau said. “And then of course, offensively he’s grown every year. His work ethic was always there, how he practiced, how he prepared, how driven he is. Those are things that carry him to this day.”
Butler has emerged as one of the best two-way players in the NBA, which is pretty incredible considering he slid to No. 30 in the 2011 NBA Draft. Butler is a three-time All-Star, a three-time All-Defensive player, the 2014-15 Most Improved Player and was a member of the 2016-17 All-NBA Third Team.
At 27, Butler is in his prime as a player. In 2016-17, he averaged a career-high 23.9 points to go with 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He shot 45.5 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from the 3-point line and a career-high 86.5 percent from the free-throw line on 8.9 attempts per game.
For the Wolves, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2004-05, they are getting a player who has appeared in the playoffs in each season of his career.
Minnesota now has a core of Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, becoming one of the best trios in the NBA with an eye on the playoffs.
“He has the most experience, so I think that’s important,” Thibodeau said. “A lot of the things our young players are going through, Jimmy’s gone through those same things. . . It was step after step. I think our players are going through that. I think that will be valuable for our players.”