Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Report: Sixers acquire NBA All-Star Butler
Jimmy Butler has his wish: He’s out of Minnesota.
And just like that, the Sixers have a new Big Three — one that could make serious noise in the East.
A person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday that Butler is being traded to the 76ers in a package that will send Dario Saric and Robert Covington to the Timberwolves. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been announced by either team and was still pending NBA approval, which is not expected until Monday.
Justin Patton will also be sent to Philadelphia, and Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 secondround pick are also going to Minnesota, the person said.
The Sixers’ “Process” led it to the second round of the playoffs last season behind two of the game’s youngest, brightest stars in big man Joel Embiid and point guard Ben Simmons. Butler, an elite wing and outstanding defender, will join them in a quest to rule the Eastern Conference.
The first order of business will be making the trade official, something that could come in time to get Butler in uniform for a game at Miami on Monday. The next step for the Sixers will be coming to an agreement on an extension for Butler, a pending free agent who made clear to Minnesota that he would not be re-signing there in 2019.
Translated: The Wolves had to trade him, or they would lose him for nothing over the summer.
There has been Butler drama every step of the way this season.
ESPN reported that at his first practice with Minnesota this fall, Butler verbally challenged players, coaches and general manager Scott Layden while dominating in scrimmages, even when going up against stars like KarlAnthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Butler said the report was true.
“All my emotion came out at one time,” Butler told ESPN. “Was it the right way to do it? No. But I can’t control that when I’m out there competing. That’s my love of the game. That’s raw me. Me at my finest, me at my purest. That’s what you’re going to get inside the lines.”
Butler continued to be miserable in Minnesota, and the Timberwolves have gotten off to a lousy start waiting for this inevitable move. Minnesota finished a 0-5 road trip with a loss in Sacramento on Friday and is 4-9 overall — winless in eight games on the road.
Butler played in 10 of those games, averaging 21.3 points. It was a peculiar arrangement; the Timberwolves were still running things through him often, even while the worst-kept secret in the NBA was that he wanted a change of address. Plenty of teams were mentioned — Houston, the Clippers, Miami among them — as top candidates.
Butler, who turned 29 on Sept. 14, has been an AllStar in each of the last four seasons. There are also concerns, though they clearly didn’t put off Philadelphia. Butler has missed at least 15 games in four of the last five seasons, including a careerhigh 23 games last year while dealing with a knee injury.
Philadelphia will become Butler’s third team, after Chicago and Minnesota. He’s a career 16.5 point-per-game scorer, though that is skewed by his first two seasons that were meager on the scoring front. He’s on pace this season to average at least 20 points for the fifth consecutive year.
“Welcome to the best sports city in America,” quarterback Carson Wentz of the Super Bowl champion Eagles tweeted to Butler.
Saric is in his third season and averaging 11.1 points, shooting only 36 percent. Covington had been a starter for Philadelphia for the bulk of the last four-plus seasons and is averaging 11.3 points per game this year.
Philadelphia and Minnesota don’t meet until Jan. 15. Butler’s return trip to Minnesota this season would be March 30, when he’s sure to be showered with boos from a Target Center crowd that jeered him at the beginning of the home opener before quickly letting up. Butler had 33 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the floor in 36 minutes that night against Cleveland, a reminder amid the drama why coach Tom Thibodeau was so eager to acquire him the year before.
But the roster never truly meshed. Butler used his brash, blunt personality to challenge Towns and Wiggins to become more consistent defenders.
And now, a new start awaits them all.