The Philadelphia 76ers have added a third star in Jimmy Butler. Was it the right move?
Elton Brand‘s first trade as Philadelphia 76ers GM was a big one, shipping away Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton.
With two elite-level players in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, the Sixers’ title window is just beginning to open. Adding Butler to the mix expedites the process, giving Brett Brown a legitimate ‘big three’ to work with.
There have been mixed reactions to the trade. Butler’s prior locker room issues are well-documented. The Sixers have one of the best cultures in the NBA, so the potential disconnect could turn worrisome.
On the other hand, Butler puts the Sixers (on paper) in the same tier as Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee. Both Brand and Brown have stated the Sixers’ goal of winning an NBA championship on multiple occasions. Butler helps the cause.
Now that the season’s first blockbuster trade is complete, our writers got together to offer thoughts on the deal and what it means moving forward.
Trey Fox
The Philadelphia 76ers took another leap last Saturday, acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves. To the dismay of some Sixers fans out there, we lost Robert Covington and Dario Saric in the deal. I, however, am of the belief that an upgrade was in order to seriously compete for a championship. Covington and Saric are solid players who work extremely hard but are simply not enough to put a team with championship aspirations over the top. A third star was needed, and that’s what the Sixers received in Butler.
I’m a huge fan of this deal for a number of reasons. The intangibles Jimmy Butler brings to the table cannot be overstated. Butler plays with passion and grit, bringing the same level of energy and determination every time he steps foot on the basketball court.
He’s a defender first and foremost, but his offense continues to mature over the years and he has turned into one of the premier two-way players in the league and a perennial All-Star. On the season, Butler boasts averages of 21.3 points, 4.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. He’s still making his return from a right wrist injury, so expect his overall play to increase as the season progresses.
In terms of fit, Butler will succeed alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, and will make for an extremely dangerous trio. Butler’s presence as an elite player will take pressure off the shoulders of Embiid and Simmons and vice versa. It’s also important to note that Butler plays well off the ball. He has a knack for finding openings in a defense, cutting to the rim and spotting up for open perimeter shots.
He’s a high-IQ player and a quality decision maker as well, so he’ll be able to share some of the playmaking responsibilities with Ben. Butler can handle the ball, create his own shot, post up and does an excellent job at drawing fouls as well.
As previously mentioned, he’s also an elite defender. You must also take into consideration that Butler is unafraid to take and make big shots. Who knows what Brett Brown will ultimately decide in terms of the starting lineup, but a defense anchored by Embiid, Butler and Simmons will be nothing short of nightmarish. Overall, the Sixers have improved significantly and can now say that they have a “big three” that will terrorize the Eastern Conference.
AJ Iezzi
When national NBA writers continued linking the Sixers to the Jimmy Butler saga, I remained skeptical. I was also publicly against trading for Butler, especially after packages from Miami and Houston were turned down.
When the news of the trade broke I was immediately torn, but the more I look at it, this trade feels very similar to the Paul George swap. Value was given, and value was received.
You know when you go to your favorite court to play pickup and that guy shows up? Jimmy Butler is that guy. He’s nasty. He’s cerebral. And above all, he’s really good. Butler’s personality and style will fit in right at home with the Philadelphia fans.
The Sixers now have three elite two-way players. Jimmy Butler makes their defense better and is a gusty shot maker on offense. The addition of the multi-time all-star solidifies their contention in the Eastern Conference. His antics are well documented, but the Sixers have a strong bond and a legitimate culture. I can’t imagine he winds up being an organization-wide pain in the neck once again. He knows he’s in an advantageous situation. Jimmy Butler is too smart to risk the position he is in.
Minnesota gained two terrific players in Robert Covington and Dario Saric. I have little doubt they’ll succeed, although I feel bad they’ll have to deal with Tom Thibodeau.
We cannot forget what Dario Saric and Robert Covington did for this organization. Sam Hinkie gifted us two players that worked relentlessly and embodied everything Philadelphia appreciates in their athletes.
Saric played with a non-stop motor, and a selflessness that perpetuated throughout the team. Robert Covington might be the biggest Process success story. He was undrafted, and grinded his way to being an NBA contributor, and he kept climbing. Covington’s All-Defense recognition was a testament to his dedication to himself and the Sixers as a whole. Any Sixers fan that didn’t fully appreciate him wasn’t paying attention.
I was at the win over Minnesota when Saric lobbed the game winning pass to Cov just before time expired. It’s one of my favorite Sixers memories, and I’ll remember both of them very fondly. Their time as Sixers may be over, but their Process contributions gave us hope for the future that we will remember forever.
Harrison Grimm
I was very surprised to see this deal happen in the first place, let alone this quick.
I’ll be honest and say Jimmy Butler wasn’t my top pick for a “star” that they were hunting for. Don’t get me wrong, Butler is a massive talent and one of the best two way players in the league. He’s easily top 15 when healthy, and he’s a great player. I would’ve liked to see them wait a bit to see how other situations play out (example: Washington and Bradley Beal), but I do get why they did this trade.
This move is a definitely a short-term “win now” move, and it will definitely help the Sixers in that aspect. The alarm bells going off mainly relate to Jimmy Butler’s age and his new contract this summer. His body has a ton of mileage on it (shoutout Tom Thibodeau), and it will be something to watch as time goes on.
Butler will definitely command a hefty contract this summer and that’s something that is very concerning. The worry doesn’t revolve around if he will stay or not (as there’s already been reports that both sides want this to be long term), but it is simply based around money.
I will say the fact that they landed Jimmy Butler without giving up Markelle or a first-round pick is seriously great. The value for the Sixers in this deal is great, and Elton Brand deserves a ton of credit.
Dario and Cov will definitely be missed in many ways — the biggest being in terms of floor spacing. Jimmy Butler can shoot the ball, but it’s not his biggest strength. I can see the Sixers starting Butler at the small forward position, and see it working out nicely for the most part. Who will start around Butler, Simmons, and Embiid is a huge question mark, but I feel the Sixers will make it work one way or another.
I’m someone who still believes in Markelle and developing him, so I would like to still see him start. Obviously, people have opposite opinions in terms of that, so seeing someone like Landry Shamet or even Jonah Bolden starting isn’t completely out of the question. Trading for Kyle Korver looks to be a really good move in the short term, and adding depth is something the Sixers will look to do going forward.
Stuart London
I like the trade for some reasons that others might not think about.
First, the trade avoids what looked like (I am sure to Elton Brand too) what was going to be a major problem with contracts looming.Dario Saric is eligible to begin negotiations on a contract extension at the end of the year, as is Ben Simmons.
Simmons’ negotiations will be easy, here is a max contract, sign and go learn how to make a jump shot.
Saric is different. With mediocre players like Allen Crabbe and Gorgui Dieng pulling in $15-18 million a year, he will want something at least in that range and more likely in the $20 million neighborhood. That will put a hurt on the salary cap in the future. Saric is good but is he THAT good?
There is also the public relations problem of stiffing Saric, who can shoot a little, and pouring a pile of money on Simmons, who can’t. The general public loves ‘The Homie’ and do not realize the cap implications. The trade takes care of that problem. Yes, Butler will probably cost at least $35 million but when you consider you would have to pay Saric $20 million to keep him, it does not seem that bad.
Secondly, as for the overall trade, put it this way. Is Covington a starter (and by that I mean more than just a role player) on a NBA championship team? No, he isn’t. Is Saric? No he isn’t. Is Jimmy Butler? Could be, has the talent. That is all you need to know.
Rusty Gorelick
I’m really happy that the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Jimmy Butler. The team has needed a dominant perimeter scorer for a while, and they finally got the man to fill that hole. He also gives Philly the perfect player to go to in clutch situations since he can score from all three levels, and his diverse offensive game will make it a lot harder to defend the 76ers.
By himself, Butler is a lot more likely to carry his team to a win than either Dario Saric or Robert Covington, so this deal feels like it was a relatively easy one for Elton Brand to make. Obviously, the Sixers lost a lot of sentimental value when they traded Dario and RoCo, but acquiring Butler is a statement of intent for the rest of the NBA.
Butler is also a ready-made replacement for Covington defensively, so Philly will not lose too much on that end with Cov gone. The four-time All-Star’s intensity should be welcomed on this young Sixers team, even though it may cause a bit of a shock at first. He will definitely lead by example, as the team will count on him as one of their top two options offensively, and if he plays well and lives up to his own high standards, then the rest of the squad will feel motivated to follow suit.
The Sixers need to hold themselves up to the standards of the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics, and Butler will help them do that. He’s already a top-15 player in the league, and as long as his leadership is well-intentioned and not abrasive, he will show that he was the missing piece all along.
Paulie Wenger
Sunday’s revelation of the Jimmy Butler trade was not only unexpected, but a sentimental gut punch to many fans, myself included.
The contribution and development of Dario Saric and Robert Covington has been one of the highlights of 76ers basketball over the last few seasons. Whether it was Covington’s game winning alley-oop against the team he is about to join or Dario dropping Jonas Jerebko to the floor, these two gemstones of The Process will always be remembered by the fans for great moments on the court.
That being said, the addition of Jimmy Butler is so exciting for Sixers fans. If I had been told four years ago that this team would acquire a player of Jimmy Butler’s talent, I would have lost my mind. Yet again, the fans are benefiting from the genius of Sam Hinkie.
I understand the worry of many fans about fitting three ball-dominant superstars on the floor at the same time, however, Jimmy Butler is the rare type of player that can shoot the three and play off the ball when needed. The most important skill that Jimmy brings is his ability to create his own shot, which the Sixers will cherish immensely.
He will make an immediate impact for a legitimate threat to the Eastern Conference crown.
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.
Jack Duffy
I was out eating lunch with my brother when I looked up at the TV and saw the Jimmy Butler trade break. I immediately got up and walked outside and paced for a few minutes. My first thoughts were “NOOOOOOO RoCo!” (and Dario of course).
I previously thought that Jimmy Butler would be very bad for the locker room with a young, laid back, comedic, Joel Embiid and a 22-year-old Ben Simmons. These ideas stemmed from Butler’s recent history struggling with Timberwolves young bucks, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Locker room drama could potentially up this Sixers young core.
After I let the news settle, the more I saw exactly why Elton Brand made this move. This summer the 76ers most likely weren’t going to land a marquee free agent, so trading for Jimmy gave them the best chance they had at becoming a championship contender in the East. They now have three top-20 players in the NBA.
With Jimmy Butler, the Sixers now have a go-to wing scorer that they desperately needed to coincide with Simmons’ playmaking abilities and Embiid’s post presence. Butler running the pick-and-roll, being able to create his own shot on command, the ability to draw fouls, and the fact that he can score anywhere on the court is exactly what Philly needed. Markelle Fultz was supposed to be that guy but with his delayed development, that will come somewhere down the road.
Prior to this trade the Sixers were out of contention in the East, behind Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee. Now they entered themselves right back into the mix. The only other NBA team with three top-20 players are the Golden State Warriors. The Sixers are nowhere close to the Warriors but this star-studded team can definitely make some noise in the East for years to come.
I kept watching every farewell RoCo and Dario Saric tribute video I could find this past weekend. That made me very emotional. RoCo and Dario will be remembered, but at the end of the day, the NBA is a business. The goal of every NBA team is to win a championship and this move gave the Sixers a higher chance at doing so, so it had to be done.
All in all, I’m incredibly pumped for what Jimmy Butler can bring to Philly this season. I predict that he will have no problems with Embiid and Simmons due to their love for defense (unlike KAT and Wiggins). Jimmy will provide the Sixers with scoring down the stretch and the ability to hold onto leads, which the 76ers have struggled with in the past.
I’m counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds until Jimmy Butler’s Sixers debut Wednesday night.
Joe DiProsperos
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly hesitant about the Sixers pursuing one Jimmy Butler at any point during this process.
But I can honestly say that my attitude towards Jimmy G. Buckets (the “G” stands for “Gets”, by the way) possibly becoming a Sixer began to shift in recent days. And once I got the news Saturday morning that there was a deal in place for him, I was elated yet also cautiously optimistic.
From just an overall trade standpoint, Elton Brand pulled off a fabulous deal. Not only did he snag Butler without giving up any first-round picks, but he also did it without giving up young guys like Markelle Fultz, Landry Shamet or Zhaire Smith. This was, for all intents and purposes, quite the steal.
From a basketball standpoint, it’s a very solid fit. Butler is an absolute menace on defense, provides late-game playmaking ability the Sixers have been lacking especially of late, and he can create his own shot, which is something this team will always welcome with open arms. In Butler, the Sixers have found a third star. A big three of Butler, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons makes a pretty strong argument for being the best trio of talent in the Eastern Conference.
It’s going to be interesting to see how those three mesh not only on the court, but most importantly off it. Butler’s reputation as being an ultra-competitive, sometimes difficult person to deal with are well-documented and well-known, and it was never more apparent than during his tenure in Minnesota. It’s reasonable to wonder whether or not this could carry over into Philly.
But I’m of the belief that coming to Philly could be a breath of fresh air for Butler. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are not Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. They’re not going to allow themselves to get pushed around like Wiggins and Towns did. Them being of a similar competitive mindset to Butler should only help to ingratiate Butler with this team.
One other thing worth paying attention to now that Butler is a Sixer is the development of Markelle Fultz. It could mean one of two things for Fultz. One could argue that it takes the pressure off of Fultz to quickly become an All-Star-caliber co-star alongside Simmons and Embiid, and therefore he can take his time and work his way back to the player we thought he could be. On the flipside, it might force him to expedite his development even further so that he doesn’t end up becoming expendable in the future. But only time will tell.
Lastly, I want to send a HUGE thank you to RoCo and the Homie. As a fan, there’s nothing that pains you more than having to bid farewell to one or more of “your guys”. Watching Covington transform from an unheralded D-League pick-up to one of the best defensive players in the league and proclaiming for all who would listen that Dario finally came over was what the Process was all about.
I’ll always be rooting for them.
Lucas Johnson
The shock of the Jimmy Butler trade to the Philadelphia 76ers is still fresh in the mind of the team’s fan base. This is certainly a mega deal, but unlike the last mega deal the Sixers made (the Andrew Bynum trade), the acquisition of Butler is bound to put the 76ers in a better position than they were before.
Looking at the package to acquire Butler isn’t going to comprise core integrity. It’s true that both Robert Covington and Dario Saric are starter-level players for most NBA franchises, but losing them for the price of Butler is still a very good deal.
Trading two starters along with Jerryd Bayless’ bad contract and a future second-round pick is a good deal for a former first-round pick in Justin Patton and an elite wing player. Not having to attach a single first-round pick nor core player, for example Markelle Fultz or Zhaire Smith, is a big win for the Sixers.
When anticipating the on-court fit of Butler, its more than likely there will be a few bumps along the way. Figuring out the the hierarchy of who gets to dominant the ball will be tricky. My personal guess is that it will be Joel Embiid, Butler and then Simmons in that regard, however it will take time for the trio to figure this out. There’s also the chance that Butler may hurt Embiid’s chances to win MVP if he takes too many touches away from the big man.
Time will tell what type of impact Butler will have on the development of the young perimeter players like Fultz and Smith, but with his knack of being a ball-dominant player, it will most likely force them to learn to play off the ball more. Whether or not that’s good for their development is yet to be seen, but it’s something to monitor.
The Butler trade should pay off in at least a longer playoff run for the Sixers than the one they enjoyed last season. This transaction does move the needle in how competitive they will be among their peers in the Eastern Conference. This is the type of risky move that will either pay off with a NBA championship or they will fall short of expectations. Hopefully it’s the former and not the latter.