In the wake of Jimmy Butler demanding a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves and listing the Knicks as one of his three preferred destinations, the Knicks are not preparing to deviate from their plan.

"Our plan is not to use draft picks as assets (in trades)," Knicks president Steve Mills said Thursday, adding that the team won't skip steps when it comes to their rebuilding plan.

New head coach David Fizdale echoed Mills' sentiments, saying he's "locked in" to the idea of patience.

"We don't want to jump at the shiny things," Fizdale said. "We want to make solid decisions and be patient with this process."

The comments on Thursday were similar to what Mills said last week.

"We're not going to take shortcuts," he said, according to The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov. "We're not going to trade our draft picks. Really, we believe New Yorkers will live with a plan and buy into a plan as long as we articulate it. ... We're not going to trade away assets for a guy we can get on our own later."

While the Butler news has the Knicks and other teams living in a different reality than the one they were in last week, there's also the report that Timberwolves president and head coach Tom Thibodeau has no interest at the moment in fulfilling Butler's request.

And if the Timberwolves don't trade Butler, he will be available to the Knicks and other teams with enough cap space after the season.

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