Philadelphia 76ers: Jimmy Butler era is over, but worth it

For the Philadelphia 76ers the Jimmy Butler era is over and short-lived, but trading for the two-way star was well worth the cost.

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Jimmy Butler in the early portion of last season, it was a sign that the franchise was ready to compete for an NBA title. Butler’s tenure with the Sixers was only 67 games between the regular and postseason this year. The two-way star was sent to the Miami Heat as a part of a sign-and-trade deal, at the beginning of free agency. Despite his short tenure, Butler was worth the price the 76ers paid.

In order for Philly to acquire Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Sixers traded Robert Covington, Dario Šarić, Jerryd Bayless and 2022 second round pick. Besides Butler, the Sixers also got Justin Patton in the deal. The Sixers waived Patton after it was clear he was nowhere close to being a contributing member of a playoff team.

Covington went down with an injury and only played 22 games with the Timberwolves this season. He’s one of the best 3-and-D players in the league, however he’s still limited offensively. Assuming he’s healthy, Covington should be an important part of Minnesota’s rotation moving forward.

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Šarić struggled to carve out a starting role in Minny and the T-Wolves ended up trading him the Phoenix Suns for the draft rights to Jarrett Culver. Šarić should be a starter in Phoenix, but he could be a sixth man on half of the teams in the league.

Do to health issues on the point guard depth chart for the T-Wolves, Bayless got some playing time with them this past season. Despite that chance, he failed to capitalize on the opportunity. He shot second lowest percent of his career from downtown at 29.6 percent for the season. He’s a free agent now, but it’s unclear if he will find a new NBA home this upcoming season.

Once Butler joined the 76ers he took a step back in production, but that’s because unlike with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in Minny. In Philly, he could let Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons run the show. He did take on the role as the team’s closer and won several games for the franchise. In the Sixers second round postseason matchup against the Toronto Raptors, Butler was key in giving Philly a chance to win that series.

To get an elite two-way closer in Butler for a very good 3-and-D wing in Covington, a rotational power forward in Šarić and a bad contract in Bayless, along with a future second round pick, seems like a steal for the Sixers. Especially when he lead the team to one lucky shot away from potentially competing a NBA championship.

There’s no doubt that it would have been ideal to have Butler to have stayed in Philly for the long-term. Sadly it didn’t work out that way. Still the fact that the 76ers were able to get something for him in a sign-and-trade with the Heat, let alone a player of Josh Richardson‘s caliber is a good consolation prize for the franchise.

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Richardson is an up and coming two-way star in the league. Last season with the Heat, he averaged 16.6 points and 1.1 steals, while shooting 35.7 percent from downtown. At 25-years-old, Richardson is and ideal fit with the Sixers. Now to say that Richardson is equal value to Butler, would be ridiculous. However, only taking Richardson in the sign-and-trade deal with Butler allowed the 76ers to have the salary cap space to agree to a deal with former All-Star Al Horford.

Essentially Philly was able to flip, Covington, Šarić, Bayless and a second round pick for a 67 games of Butler. Butler showed Simmons and Embiid how to be leaders and pushed the eventual NBA champions in the Raptors the hardest they were pushed in their title run. Then the Sixers essentially flipped Butler for a long-term run with both Richardson and Horford.

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The Philadelphia 76ers didn’t give up too much value to obtain Butler this past season. He helped lead and mentor the young duo of Embiid and Simmons. When Butler left, the Sixers were essentially able to get more value for him then they originally gave up to gain him. In the end, although a short stint, the Butler era was worth the price for Philly.