It was the largest extension they could offer based on his current contract status. This isn’t a theory; it is what it is:

I sure did! He’s been bad this season! I also saw him score 56 seven months ago, so I’m not ready to “never” him just yet.

He’s incredibly talented, 22, and under team control for a long time. Butler is older, injury-prone and a pending free agent. Even given KAT’s very real shortcomings, it wasn’t a hard choice.

The Wolves offered him the largest extension they could before next summer. This is a personality clash.

Whoever in Jimmy’s camp came up with the “let’s say Thibs suggested he sit” rebuttal did not think this one through.

If Charles Oakley is 30 feet away from the basket trying to foul Steph Curry, I think Steph is winning.

I would go so far as to argue that none of the central evils Libby cites — not Republicans, not Trump, not big money lobbyists or tilted courts or voter suppression — would hold nearly as much sway over our lives if people who don’t want them consistently showed up to vote for something else.

And many of them *are* inspiring in their own ways! Many of them believe the things you believe, want the things you want and work to achieve those things -- sometimes in sexy, grand, inspiring ways, but more often in wonky, boring, “she’s fine” ways. It’s incremental! Just keep electing people who are better than the…

It’s a good question, but a couple things. First, the way an organization treats and develops a player — whether they have a shot at drafting them or not — matters. It matters for your future relationship with that player, your future relationship with that player’s friends in the league and your general reputation.…

It’s not the salary, though — it’s the endorsements. Boosters can funnel $126k under the table (it’s a lot and they might get caught, but they can), but it’s a lot harder to beat an eight-figure shoe deal from Nike. Rookie Ben Simmons got $20 million. Rookie LeBron got $90 million. Even guys like Trae Young can get a…

And the salary isn’t even the best part -- it’s the endorsements. If you’re a one-and-done lottery talent, you can get way more from Nike in an above-board endorsement deal than you could under the table.

If you’re a top-level NBA prospect, the co-eds will find you.

It’s a good question, and there are definitely player control issues to be resolved, but at the end of the day, I think (and hope) it’s in the team’s best interests to develop the players to the best of their ability. Even they aren’t going to draft that player, that’s not the only interaction you’re going to have…

I mean, I think Drew himself wrote that covering the Super Bowl this year was his first time in the state in like 30 years, so I’m not sure he’s a representative sample of Wolves fandom.

They don’t schedule 82 games because of divisions or conferences — 82 doesn’t even produce a balanced conference schedule (86 would, but let’s not). They’ve been doing in since the late 60's when there were 12 teams in the league. They schedule 82 games at this point to sell 82 games’ worth of tickets and 82 games’…

NBA dysfunction is a feature, not a bug. This league isn’t incredibly popular because the basketball is very good (although the basketball is very good!). It’s incredibly popular because it’s a soap opera populated by young, ultra-talented, incredibly petty millionaires who regularly generate storylines like “Does KAT…

Yeah, this isn’t exactly Drew’s lane.

The NBA has already effectively eliminated divisions in almost every meaningful sense. I believe the only difference they make is you’re guaranteed to play those teams 4x per season (as opposed to the random group of teams in your conference you’ll play 3x). I’m a hardcore fan and I can’t tell you with certainty which…

30, but the point stands -- play 58 games. Now, convincing everyone to take the pay cut (it wouldn’t be a full 25 percent, because the remaining games would be more valuable, but it would be sizable) is another matter, but from a quality of product standpoint it makes perfect sense.

The Spurs vs. Kawhi was amateur hour. This is Jimmy Butler vs. Towns and maybe Wiggins vs. Coaching vs. Management vs. Ownership vs. the Media vs. Gorgui Dieng.