Timberwolves owner considered firing Tom Thibodeau over the summer, still may replace him, per report

Wolves owner Glen Taylor also reportedly considered firing GM Scott Layden

After a month of rumors and speculation, Jimmy Butler has finally been traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Saturday afternoon, the Wolves finalized a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to send Butler and Justin Patton to Philly in exchange for Dario Saric, Robert Covington and a second-round pick. 

There are plenty of questions about where the Timberwolves go from here. One of the most interesting, though, is what they'll do with head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau. With both front office and coaching responsibilities, Thibodeau -- a fierce competitor -- was reluctant to make a trade that would hurt the Wolves this season. 

As we know now, Thibodeau's decision to keep Butler around did not pay off. Now, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski, it could also cost Thibodeau his job. In fact, Wolves owner Glen Taylor reportedly considered firing him over the summer. Via ESPN:

As Philadelphia ramps up its rise into contention, Minnesota is sorting through what's left in Butler's wake. Taylor considered firing Thibodeau and Layden in the summer -- well before the Butler situation escalated -- and has continued to consider possibilities to eventually replace both of them, league sources said. There's immense pressure on Minnesota's management structure to see dividends on this trade.

Commissioner Adam Silver disdained the optics of these past several weeks and that has left plenty of owners convinced Silver is a strong believer in the separation of front office and coaching powers. Silver was one of several league powerbrokers who Thibodeau visited in his season out between Chicago and Minnesota. Back then, Thibodeau sold himself as a rejuvenated renaissance man, promising to bring a different disposition to his next job.

There are a few interesting things to note here. First being that Taylor thought about firing Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden over the summer. With how things have played out, he probably would have been wise to go through with that plan. Moving on from Thibodeau and trading Butler early in the process would clearly have made the Wolves worse this season, but it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. 

Then, of course, there's the decision Taylor has to make now with Thibodeau and Layden. That duo will likely get some time to prove themselves post-trade, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a change made at some point. 

And finally, the note about Adam Silver not liking one person to have front office and coaching responsibilities is interesting. Most observers have disliked that set-up because of the exact problems it led to with the Timberwolves this season, but it's another level when the commissioner has strong feelings about workplace structure. Would Silver ever go so far as to ban this kind of arrangement? It would probably save some teams some trouble if he did.