Leaving the Philadelphia 76ers was a mistake for Jimmy Butler.
Jimmy Butler, 29, is in the prime of his career and has never experienced winning at the highest level, as he has not made it to the conference finals or the NBA Finals. Jimmy’s career has been a mystery so far because he has stated in multiple interviews and press conferences that his main goal in this league is to win, no matter where it is His decision to request a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Miami Heat, however, proved to everyone that more than winning, he wanted to be the man and to be the leader of a team.
Philadelphia provided Butler a few key aspects that any star player would want to be part of: the opportunity to win at the highest level for several years, the ability to be the closer in the fourth quarter of games and the role of backup point guard behind Ben Simmons. The 76ers currently have one of the best young cores in the league with Ben Simmons (22), Joel Embiid (25), Josh Richardson (25), and Tobias Harris (26) that have the ability to contend for an NBA Championship in a weak Eastern Conference. Philly was a historic shot from Kawhi Leonard away from reaching their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2001, a game in which Butler played a major role, including the game-tying basket before Leonard’s game-winner.
Jimmy seemed concerned at times that he didn’t get the ball enough and that Ben was playing more on the ball then he was. So, he probably felt that being a third option for the rest of his career — because he said this is likely his last contract — was not something he would want to do long term. If he could be the number one guy on a competitive but less talented team he would be fine with that.
The whole goal in sports and in the NBA in particular is to win at the highest level. Butler obviously didn’t value winning at the top of his list of priorities in choosing his next and most likely final team. There have been conflicting reports about if the Sixers offered Jimmy Butler a full five-year max contract. Also, some have said that Philadelphia did not even offer him a four-year maximum contract.
To me, going into this offseason offering Butler a five-year contract should have been a no brainer, as he was the perfect wing/guard to pair alongside Simmons. Jimmy can do a lot of things that Ben cannot do. He was the perfect complement to Ben’s game. In this league, it is sometimes hard to find a player like him, who is relentless and is not afraid to guard the opposing team’s best player and to take the last shot of a game.
After trading for Jimmy, the Miami Heat gave up their best young player to the Sixers in Josh Richardson. If the Heat do not make any further moves in the offseason to acquire a good to star-level player to pair with Butler, then for the next few seasons he will be competing for the seventh or eighth seed in the East.
With him getting the same money wherever he played, Jimmy chose to be the man over competing for an NBA Championship for the rest of his career, which many NBA superstars would not do by their own choice.