Despite just making their first trip to the playoffs in 14 years, the Minnesota Timberwolves still appear to have some internal problems to address.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News reported on Friday that All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler is uncertain about playing with Wolves teammate Andrew Wiggins. Deveney also notes that Butler had issues with him last season stemming from Wiggins’ work ethic and his approach on defense.
In their first year playing together, Butler (a team-high 22.2 points on 15.6 shot attempts per game) and Wiggins (17.7 points on a team-high 15.9 shots) shared most of the heavy lifting on offense. However, Butler was regularly tasked with guarding the other team’s top offensive threat, while Wiggins (who posted a negative defensive RPM on the year) cratered on that end.
Reports had emerged in recent months that Wiggins was upset with his role on the Wolves, and now we know that the frustration likely goes both ways.
