Timberwolves: Analyzing the Jimmy Butler trade after one year
By Andrew Ites
Philadelphia 76ers
Ever since they fired Sam Hinkie, the 76ers’ philosophy has centered around hoarding superstar talent, and that was the thought behind going after Jimmy Butler who was clearly disgruntled in Minnesota after he had forced his way out of Chicago.
Philadelphia thought they were one star away from a championship-caliber roster and they thought it was worth taking a risk on Butler even though he had shown he was a bit difficult to deal with in the locker room in two different cities.
The Sixers sacrificed their depth by giving up Robert Covington and Dario Saric in the deal who were both fan favorites in Philadelphia as they were positive results from “The Process.”
The organization also hoped Justin Patton would become a solid backup center for them, but they ended up waiving him near the end of the regular season and replaced him with a veteran presence in Greg Monroe.
Philly’s group of stars didn’t have a ton of time to gel after acquiring Tobias Harris at the trade deadline, but they had an overwhelming amount of talent that helped them get to the second round of the postseason.
They gave Toronto all they could handle taking a 2-1 series lead and pushing the Raptors all the way to a Game Seven, but they came just two points shy of taking the game to overtime and the rest is history as Toronto went on to win their franchise’s first championship.
It sounded like Philadelphia wanted to bring everyone back and make another run at the title with the same group, but Jimmy Butler told Yahoo’s Chris Haynes that something went on behind closed doors in Philly that caused him to sign elsewhere and he eventually landed with the Miami Heat.
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The Sixers were able to rebound well this offseason by getting Josh Richardson back in a very complex sign-and-trade with Miami and signing Al Horford as an unrestricted free agent while handing Tobias Harris a humongous extension.
Some Philly fans believe that they would’ve been better off keeping Covington and Saric and trying to make a run with that team last year, but it’s hard to argue that Butler didn’t make them better as he was their go-to guy in that tough second round series with the eventual champions.
In the end, I think the Sixers would do this deal again and hope that a couple more bounces had went their way in the postseason to give them a chance against Milwaukee in the Conference Finals.