T'Wolves brass would have preferred that Butler not make his trade request publicNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor said the Jimmy Butler trade saga "consumed too much of my time on things that were negative," according to Jace Frederick of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Taylor said that GM Scott Layden "handled much" of the team’s trade communications. But he "confirmed reports that he talked" with 76ers co-Managing Partner Josh Harris "near the end of negotiations." Taylor said, “When you have a trade this important, I check to make sure the other owner is in sync with the exact same trade that we’re talking about so there’s no misunderstanding." Taylor said that if the T'Wolves’ front office "knew the process was going to take as long to play out as it did, 'we probably would’ve done some things differently.'" Taylor said plenty of T'Wolves trades throughout the years have "never gotten out into the open," so Butler’s trade request becoming public "made it really difficult to kind of bring it back into the fold again." Taylor: “I don’t think any of us anticipated how open this whole thing would become with Jimmy. We miscalculated that.” Taylor said that he is "'hopeful' that the atmosphere at Target Center will turn around." Frederick notes the building's atmosphere "has been toxic this season, with small attendances and plenty of audible boos." Taylor: “We told the fans that we were going to have a good year. ... We thought [Butler] was going to be here. I think that was upsetting not only to us, but our fans that Jimmy would do this." He said he hopes fans are "intrigued enough to see with these new guys what we can do and get ourselves back" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/15).
