Philadelphia 76ers: Jimmy Butler, the one that got away

In the summer of 2019 the Philadelphia 76ers had a number of contract decisions to make, namely for Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Jimmy Butler. Having the cap space to retain two of the three players on the roster, the Sixers let the one go that they shouldn’t have.

The Philadelphia 76ers shelled out $289 million last summer in the form of $180 million over five years to Tobias Harris and $109 million over four years to Al Horford. Rumors had it that 29-year-old Jimmy Butler was seeking a five-year max contract from the Sixers and they were unwilling to oblige.

Fast forward one year and Jimmy Butler is on the Miami Heat, a young and talented team that just made the NBA Finals and Harris, Horford and the Sixers are watching the playoffs on a couch like the rest of us.

Jimmy Butler is not known for a specific skill such as 3-point shooting or exhilarating dunks; his greatest asset is his mental toughness and will to win. He is a competitor and leader that leaves everything on the floor and even though he is not exceptional in any one skill, he is more than serviceable in all areas of the game. And Butler plays his best basketball when the lights are the brightest.

Take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston as the most recent example. Butler hit a 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, Butler’s clutch and-one in the final minute sealed the victory for the Heat. That is just one example of a long list of clutch baskets Butler has made, something he very clearly did in Philadelphia too. Yet, the front office and Brett Brown somehow thought he was the easiest to dispose of when compared to Horford and Harris.

It is easy to say hindsight is 20/20 and that the contract decisions were mishandled last summer, but Butler was the most valuable of the three contract-seeking players last season in terms of what he contributed on and off the court. The franchise’s concerns about his age at the end of a 5-year contract are more than hypocritical considering Horford will be 37 at the end of his contract.

Either way, we are where we are now and there is nothing we can do to change that. The Philadelphia 76ers were swept in the first round of the playoffs versus the Boston Celtics and Horford and Harris did not play anywhere close to the value of their contracts. The Miami Heat are on their way to the NBA Finals and Jimmy Butler is playing like a top ten player in these playoffs.

He really is the one who got away!