Philadelphia 76ers: Jimmy Butler’s changing role after Tobias Harris trade
Ever since the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler’s role within the Sixers’ offensive has decreased. While there is only one ball that has to be shared among several stars, will Butler’s new role cause him to want to leave the team this offseason?
Last month I wrote this article about whether Jimmy Butler’s future with the Philadelphia 76ers should be in doubt and I felt like they had to commit to him. Butler has averaged 21.3 points, 4.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2.4 steals, and 1 block per game while making 37.8 percent of his three-pointers and 47.1 percent of his shots overall this season.
His averages with the Sixers are 18.7 points, 3.8 assists, 5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks while making 35.5 percent of his three-pointers and 48.3 percent of his shots overall, which is more than good enough to earn a max contract. But Butler was unhappy with his role on the team at times before Tobias Harris joined it, and his role has decreased a lot in the six games with Harris.
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Before the trade, Butler had the third-highest usage rate on the Sixers and was involved in 21.8 percent of their offensive possessions. Ignoring the one game Amir Johnson played, Butler dropped to seventh in usage rate at 17.5 percent, behind Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Boban Marjanovic, Harris, J.J. Redick, and T.J. McConnell in the six games since the Harris trade. In these six games, Butler’s per game average has decreased to 17.5 points, 4.2 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game while making 22.2 percent of his 3-pointers and 51.7 percent of his shots overall.
I’m not writing this to criticize Butler, because it makes sense for him to have a lower usage rate. Butler is the Sixers’ best perimeter defender and is not as good of a three-point shooter as Harris or as good of a playmaker as Simmons. He’s good at both of those things and is still the 76er that should take the last shot in game-winning situations. He’s the best two-way player on the Sixers not named Embiid and is fourth in the league in steals per game, so allowing his teammates to get more touches and focus on defense is a good strategy by head coach Brett Brown. It’s just a strategy that might make Butler unhappy over time.
Kevin O’Connor wrote a great article detailing a the ways the Sixers changed their offense to make Butler happy after he complained to Brett Brown about the way he was being used, and he’s being used less now than he was when he complained.
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To Butler’s credit, he hasn’t complained about his new role. It just seems likely that he might get tired of being the fifth option in the Sixers’ starting lineup and might be more willing to meet with other teams during free agency.