Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau's press briefing was winding down on Tuesday when someone asked a follow-up question about Jimmy Butler's trade request.
"We're not going to keep getting into that," Thibodeau said. "We're going to talk about the Spurs. That's what we're going to talk about. I mean, you guys want to keep the drama going. We're not going there."
Not going there? "There" is where the Timberwolves live. Their slogan is "All Eyes North." Thibodeau seems to think it's "All Eyes Shut."
The Timberwolves begin another season of team-generated drama on Wednesday night in San Antonio. If Butler were a part of the long-term future of the Wolves, this team might be good enough to win more than 50 games and secure the third seed in the Western Conference.
This is a very good roster, a better roster than the one that produced 47 victories last year, but at some point the Wolves will trade Butler, because they have to, and hit a franchise re-set button worn flatter than a middleweight's nose.
In terms of the Wolves' grand immediate plans, and in context with franchise history, this will be rightly considered a disaster. But it will be a different kind of disaster.
Trading Kevin Garnett for nothing? Hiring David Kahn? Drafting Jonny Flynn instead of Steph Curry? Paying Joe Smith under the table? Those are mistakes that ensured failure.
Thibs' willingness to hand the reins of the franchise to someone who didn't want them, in Butler, is an equally egregious mistake, but the Wolves' situation is less dire this time for one reason: