The Golden State Warriors are still safe.

Jimmy Butler’s arrival in Minnesota doesn’t mark a power shift in the Western Conference, not so long as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Co. are still looking down on the rest of the NBA.

But when the Timberwolves landed the three-time All-Star small forward from the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, doing a draft day deal that came at the cost of Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and the No. 7 pick but also netting them the No. 16 pick, it marked a new day in Minnesota.

The Timberpuppies are no more.

For all of the focus on the reunion between Butler, 27, and his former coach Tom Thibodeau, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns who had every right to do a happy dance when the deal went down. The 21-year-old center is the pre-eminent “He got next” talent in today’s league, the kind of star who simply must be surrounded with a supporting cast worthy of his prowess. And after all of the hype of last summer, when the Timberwolves were expected to break the league’s longest playoff drought (2004) but went just 31-51, they have every reason to be thinking big again.

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Butler is many things: an elite scorer (23.9 points a game last season; 14th in the NBA), an improving playmaker (career-high 5.5 assists per game in 2016-17), a world champion (gold medal in the Rio Olympics last summer), and the kind of proud competitor who can match Thibodeau’s well-known intensity when the moment calls for it. But above all else, as Thibodeau learned long before taking the job as Minnesota’s president of basketball operations and coach in April 2016, Butler is a two-way player.

And that, given the changing landscape of today’s NBA, is exactly what these Timberwolves need.

Butler’s defense should be a major boon for the team that ranked just 26th in the league in defensive rating last season (109.1 points allowed per 100 possession). He can guard with the best of them, helping slow the likes of Durant, the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George and all the other elite players at that position. Thibodeau, who tried last summer to land Butler but simply couldn’t get a deal done, knows this as much as anyone.

From the time Butler was taken 30th overall out of Marquette in 2011 until Thibodeau’s firing in the summer of 2015, they grew together. Butler was a full-time starter by his third season, when the Bulls went 50-32 before falling in six games to James’ Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. His defense was always there, but his scoring improved in the kind of way not often seen at this level. 

But he will be the veteran leader in this group, the guy who must help Towns lead while meshing with the likes of wingman Andrew Wiggins and big man Gorgui Dieng. It remains to be seen who will run point, as veteran Ricky Rubio is known to be at the center of Timberwolves’ trade talks and the possibility remains that Minnesota will hire his replacement in free agency next month.

But the Timberwolves are primed to be one of the most compelling teams around – again. It’s Take Two for Thibodeau and Butler, and a second chance at an electric emergence for their group.

Even the Warriors will want to watch.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick.