Philadelphia 76ers roundtable: Thoughts on the Jimmy Butler trade

Ryan Wohl

The Sixers adding Jimmy Butler to their core with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons makes Philadelphia a real championship contender for this season and years to come. Jimmy is such a great fit for this team on so many levels, including his scoring ability, All-Defense presence and playoff experience.

Butler is one of the best two-way players in the NBA and makes this team an elite defensive unit. I think they got Jimmy on a great deal, where they didn’t have to give up Markelle Fultz or the Miami 2021 first-round pick.

He also is a very good free throw shooter, where he is a career 83 percent from the foul line and has shot at least 85 percent over the last two seasons. That is good because down the stretch of games if teams want to foul someone, they can just put the ball in Butler’s hand instead of Simmons, who has struggled from the foul line.

The Sixers finally got a guy will can create offense for himself and can get to the basket whenever he wants, but is an average three-point shooter. They will be able to give it to him at the end of games to go and score, a luxury they previously lacked.

I think Butler will get along just fine with the Sixers’ players. They have a lot of hard working players who want to win just like him. Also, Brett Brown is a very well-liked coach for players and runs a great locker room.

Overall, I believe that this was a great trade for the sixers who are getting a top-15 player in this league and didn’t have to part ways with some of their valuable assets in Markelle Fultz, Landry Shamet, Zaire Smith, or the Miami Heat first-round pick.