Philadelphia 76ers trade for All-Star wing Jimmy Butler

The Philadelphia 76ers have changed the landscape of the Eastern Conference with the acquisition of All-Star wing Jimmy Butler.

The beginning of this season wasn’t looking great for the Philadelphia 76ers. They had lost to some of the Eastern Conference’s best teams, such as the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. It was clear that the Sixers were a tier below the elite teams within the conference and something had to change to help catapult themselves into the a top franchise in the East.

According to Shams Charania of the Athletic, the 76ers made such a move and landed All-Star Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves. After his initial tweet, Charania had another tweet that included all the players and draft picks that were involved in the deal.

The four time All-Star has averaged 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.4 steals and one block, while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 37.8 from the 3-point line this season. Butlers ability to score and create for others should help take off some of the burden for the Sixers young stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

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This move should be considered a major win for Philadelphia in several respects. While losing starters like Robert Covington and Dario Saric certainly hurt, their production is easily replaced by Butler. The moving of Jerryd Bayless‘ contact should be a win as well. On top of that, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, both sides expect to get a long-term deal done this upcoming off season.

Justin Patton appears to be just a throw in with this deal. The big man has often dealt with injury and is currently out indefinitely with a foot injury. If he can become healthy, then maybe he could see time with the Sixers G-League affiliate the Delaware Blue Coats, but it’s unlikely Patton has a long term future with the 76ers at this point.

The biggest win in this trade is the fact that the Sixers only sent a second round pick to the Timberwolves and not the Miami Heat’s unprotected first round pick owned by Philly. The fact that the Sixers were able to acquire one of the best two-way players in the NBA without sacrificing a franchise player or first round pick is a monumental accomplishment by rookie general manager Elton Brand.

Now this move won’t make the 76ers unbeatable right away. There will be an adjustment period for all parties involved. Butler has been a strong presence in the locker room in the past and there’s a chance that Philly will have some chemistry issues starting out this new union. However, as long as they are winning, then any potential problems should dissipate.

With the departure of two starters, it highly possible that Brown will place J.J. Redick or Landry Shamet into the starting lineup for floor spacing purposes. Both are above average 3-point shooters and depending on how Brown wants his bench to look should determine which of them could start.

This move certainly improves the Philadelphia 76ers for both the short and long term. Adding Butler makes the Sixers a top tier Eastern Conference franchise and possibly a real contender for an NBA title.