Report: Timberwolves upset that Butler's side leaked trade request

As the Minnesota Timberwolves remain unable or unwilling to trade star swingman Jimmy Butler less than two weeks away from opening night, 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson reported that the Wolves never wanted Butler's trade request to be made public.

"The Wolves had no intention of leaking said request," Wolfson said on "The Scoop" podcast. "That was the Jimmy Butler side that leaked the request. The Wolves remain upset about that."

Teams tend to prefer that trade requests be kept in-house for leverage purposes. News first broke regarding Butler's trade demand on Sept. 19, although rumblings of his discontent with the Wolves go back to last season.

Related: Wolves reportedly prefer Adebayo, Richardson, pick from Heat for Butler

There have since been reports of trade discussions with both the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets, although other stories have surfaced that say Wolves president and head coach Tom Thibodeau is being disingenuous in his supposed attempts to deal Butler.

Butler reportedly has no plans to miss regular-season games, which could create an awkward situation that sees him suit up for Minnesota when the team's season begins Oct. 17.