NFL
By: Randall Gimm
Jimmy Butler and the Wolves make headlines again on Friday with KAT and Jimmy catching up with one another late in the fourth quarter. Jimmy called KAT “Soft as baby $***” and said, “I already punked you once”. Butler was probably referring to how he and the 3rd string Wolves beat the rest of the starters in a 2018 practice scrimmage. Not sure what KAT had to say for himself in response but he showed a smile at the end of the exchange.
The Heat made the Wolves get out of the kitchen in a 121-112 victory. KAT and Jimmy battled throughout with Butler tallying 25p/8r/6a and Towns with 27p/6r/4a. The Wolves finished the game shooting 27% from three due to the Heat’s ability to disrupt passing lanes and close out the 3 point line. Butler alone attributed 5 of the team’s 9 steals in that contest.
We all can tell when Jimmy enters his state of flow. It is obvious when he is everywhere on the floor defensively, hitting layups through contact and hyping up his teammates in the process. We saw Jimmy do this in Minnesota, but not at this volume. Minnesotans fell in love with Jimmy’s tenacity, hard work, and ability to carry the team to wins. Why were these attributes not contagious to his former Wolves teammates, like they are to the Heat now?
Jimmy was getting noticeably frustrated with the Wolves during his time there. In his 2018 interview with Rachel Nichols, he said that “if you’re number one priority isn’t winning, and people can tell … now there is a problem between people.” He was speaking of players in that Wolves locker room. In all honesty, we can assume it was Andrew Wiggins. Since he came out of college, he has carried this stigma that he doesn’t care about winning. Does Butler believe that Towns is cut from that same cloth? 
This season, I have seen a different Karl Anthony Towns. He went toe to toe with Embiid (who I believe to be his nemesis) in a physical battle on April 3rd. Towns ended that game with 39 points and an embarrassing dunk on Embiid in the loss. Again, he’s showing his aggression against Jimmy in Friday’s game and I love what I’m seeing. He isn’t afraid to back down and he’s leaving his emotions separate from his play. He also is having a career year in assists. I attribute that to how his head coach, Chris Finch, is using Towns. He had his career-high in assists (11) against the Bucks in late February immediately after Finch was hired. If Finch was around earlier, I would bet on Towns averaging more. His stats since the All-Star break (and Finch’s hiring) are 26.4p/10.6r/4.9a. That is career numbers for assists and close to his career-high in scoring over one season.
Back in 2018, I could see people thinking that Jimmy’s comments on his former Wolves teammates could be directed at Towns. Now, three years later, I don’t believe that to be the case. Towns are evolving and helping his team buy-in and improve under Finch’s guidance. You could say, maybe KAT took a lesson from Jimmy and is developing that edge that any player needs to get to that next level. The Wolves are rid of Wiggins and have the scorer they want in D’Angelo Russell. I can see the wolves making a run for the playoffs next year with the consistency of KAT, better than expected scoring from Anthony Edwards, and the return of Malik Beasley next season.
I believe that Edwards and Beasley can play with that high level of intensity. Then you add Russell’s talent in the clutch, along with consistent 25 and 10 from KAT, it is going to be difficult to outscore this team. Especially if the bench can be productive, which we have seen flashes of this season. If the Wolves can improve on the defensive side of the court (they’re currently 28th in DEF efficiency), I can see them making the 4th or 5th seed in the west.
Tonight’s game against a bottom-of-the-barrel Orlando team can be a true test to see if Minnesota can impose their will on a lesser team. It is about time for the Wolves to show some consistency in winning the games that they know they can win. It is also a revenge game for Cole Anthony defeating the Wolves with a devastating 3 pointer earlier this season. I expect the Wolves to treat the game as such.
So, thank you to Jimmy Butler for giving Towns and company that wake-up call in 2018 and showing them a thing or two in the passion department. I believe Towns needed that to enter that next level of development and mature as a leader. I can’t wait to see what the Wolves have in store for next season and who we will pick up in this year’s draft.
