On July 3, 2018, Bleacher Report posted an article stating that Jimmy Butler would not sign an extension in Minnesota. The experiment had failed and he had been at odds with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Tensions had mounted and it looked pretty obvious that he wanted out.
Ten days later, Butler officially turned down an extension.
This was still two months before he stated he wanted a trade.
By the time this article posted Kawhi Leonard’s desire to leave San Antonio was clear.