Jimmy Butler the next step in 76ers’ process
Trade teams up all-star swingman with Embiid, Simmons.
In a blockbuster NBA trade, Philadelphia is sending Dario Saric and Robert Covington to the Minnesota Timberwolves in return for the All-Star guard, according to reports,
Elton Brand apparently didn't want to wait until the summer, when the Philadelphia 76ers could've been $40 million below the salary cap, to secure a coveted third star.
The Sixers' new general manager pursued and landed Timberwolves swingman Jimmy Butler in a trade that will officially be announced Monday. The cost is starters Robert Covington and Dario Saric, as well as the expiring
contract of veteran Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick. The Sixers also get young 7-footer Justin Patton in the deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and AP sources.
Covington was a first-team All-NBA defender a year ago who guarded the opponents' top perimeter player and Saric boosted the Sixers with his offensive versatility, but Brand and management securing Butler without giving up Simmons is impressive.
Butler is expected to make his Sixers debut Wednesday night against the Magic in Orlando.
Next summer, the 29-year-old Butler will opt out of a deal that's paying him $18.7 million this season. The Sixers could give him a max contract worth $188 million over five years, which is more than he'd be eligible to receive anywhere else in terms of years, average salary and total money.
It all comes down to this — the Sixers have a much better chance to re-sign Butler than they would've had to land a top-drawer free agent like Klay Thompson or Kawhi Leonard. They wouldn't be able to pay Thompson or Leonard as much as those players' current clubs, but have an inherent advantage with Butler in July. And they could still have more than $20 million to use in free agency next summer even if Butler re-signs.
Yes, there's a risk if Butler doesn't fit as well as projected with other superstars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on the court and opts to sign with another team next summer. In that scenario, the Sixers would've dealt two starters for a six-month rental. But adding Butler to Embiid and Simmons gives the Sixers an impressive core in a LeBron James-less Eastern Conference.
Vegas likes the move, as evidenced by the odds of the Sixers winning the NBA championship going from 22-1 to 15-1, though that still puts them behind the Celtics (7-1) and Raptors (9-1) among East teams.
The 6-foot-8 Butler is a fourtime all-star who can score, averaging 20-plus points in each of the past four seasons. He is a very good defender, plays heavy minutes and is an excellent free throw shooter, though he's just an average 3-point shooter (34.1 percent in his career).
It'll be interesting to see if Sixers Coach Brett Brown continues starting Markelle Fultz alongside Simmons now that
Butler is a Sixer, since perimeter shooting is not their strengths. Three-point specialist JJ Redick, who has been starting the second halves in place of Fultz, would provide the Sixers with much better offensive spacing alongside Simmons and Butler, thereby helping create more room for Embiid to operate down low.
Saric's departure means the Sixers are down to two power forwards on the roster (Mike Muscala and Jonah Bolden) and Muscala is expected to miss at least three more games with a facial fracture. Simmons will have to handle some minutes at the “4” spot, at least temporarily.
Butler, who asked to be traded
from Minnesota two months ago, earned the reputation of being demanding with young players while on the Bulls and Wolves. A Chicago Sun-Times report in July said Butler had been “fed up with the nonchalant attitude of his younger teammates, specifically Karl-Anthony Towns.”
There are no guarantees with any NBA transaction. But the positives far outweigh the negatives here for the Sixers.
Without Butler, the Sixers might not have been able to equal last year's 52-win season or continued moving up in the Eastern Conference. With him, who knows?