Jimmy Butler was a Sixer. And then after a Philadelphia minute, the ball bounced around four times, went in, and suddenly he was gone.
In the seasons since 2019, the six-time All-Star put the Miami Heat on his back and took them to two NBA Finals berths and three Eastern Conference Finals. The five-time All-NBA Teamer and five-time All-Defensive teamer will turn 35 this coming September, but the latest news doesn’t make it sound like 76ers’ Prez Daryl Morey would be deterred from potentially extending the superstar’s contract if he were acquired via trade.
The latest per Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey:
“It’s no secret that the 76ers are closely monitoring Jimmy Butler’s contract situation with the Miami Heat.
The Sixers view him as a fallback option if they are unable to sign Paul George in free agency.
And, according to sources, the Sixers are prepared to give Butler a maximum-salary extension if things align and he forces a trade out of Miami.”
Once this nugget in particular goes through the social media aggregation machine, it will probably wind up sounding like a slight to Jimmy Buckets.
He’s a fALlBaCk pLaN? PaUl GeOrGe OvEr Me!
And has JB not been significantly more successful than PG over the last five postseasons or so?
But you’d have to immerse yourself in Sixers caponomics to understand why the team should vastly prefer PG (even if they didn’t necessarily have him ranked higher on their proverbial board than the former Marquette Golden Eagle, Jimmy Buckets).
In short, trading for Butler would almost certainly mean Morey getting bled dry by Pat Riley, depleting the 76ers’ five first-round pick haul, and Morey might even have to throw in a few swaps to boot.
On the flip, if they signed Paul George using cash, they could then retain that significant pick haul and target yet another complementary piece or three!
So Butler here is a fallback option, albeit one with
