Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star forward Paul George is siding with Jimmy Butler in his saga with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Butler demanded a trade from the T'Wolves weeks ago and has remained away from the team up until this week when he returned to practice and dominated the gym. The 29-year old star reportedly held a players-only meeting on Thursday, in which he expressed to his teammates that he would compete with them and made it known that his issues are with management, according to Shams Charania. However, he isn't backing down from his trade demands.
Paul George knows a thing or two about forcing your way out of a situation, as he went through a similar scenario with the Indiana Pacers during the summer of 2017. Today, he told ESPN's Royce Young, "I'm on Jimmy's side," adding, "I'm all for what Jimmy is trying to do over there."
“I mean Jimmy has a very valid point. I’m on Jimmy’s side. It’s not coming from a place where he is going against an organization."
“Jimmy’s a guy, his whole career, has made it to the league off work. Off him having to grind, scratch and claw to get where he’s at. And then he sees the potential he has around him and he just wants guys to match that because if guys are skilled and have that ‘it’ that [Karl-Anthony Towns] has or Wiggins has; they have that ‘it’ that a lot of guys don’t have. Now, they just have to match it with what Jimmy is bringing to the table.
“I’m all for what Jimmy is trying to do over there. I talked to Jimmy a little bit on that and it’s not coming from a bad place. Jimmy is not going against an organization. He wants the best for that organization and he’s trying to bring out everything for that organization to get to where they want to get to.”