Let’s begin with an unpleasant but unavoidable assumption: Tom Thibodeau, the current head coach and president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is not long for this franchise.



The blade may fall as soon as this week, when the chaotic dysfunction laid bare in the offseason comes home to roost with the start of training camp for the 2018-19 season. Or, for reasons of money and the proclivity of this franchise to wallow in awkward embarrassment, the change may happen as late as the end of the 2018-19 season. Owner Glen Taylor may dictate the removal, or Thibs himself may cut the rope on his own guillotine. But however you slice it, in the wake of Jimmy Butler’s trade demand this past week, Thibodeau has orchestrated an irreparable state of affairs.



The roots of this are not hard to fathom, but merit a recap. Against long odds, Thibs bet heavily on the momentum of his past success against the prevailing tides of modern NBA methodology.