In November 2018, the Philadelphia 76ers brokered a blockbuster trade for Jimmy Butler and went on to push the eventual champion Toronto Raptors to seven games in the NBA conference semifinals.
Then, Butler bounced the following summer in a sign-and-trade with the Miami Heat, and the Sixers haven’t been the same since.
With Philly now sitting atop a mountain of assets this offseason, the option of reuniting with the dynamic two-way swingman is already on the franchise’s mind. According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 76ers “are prepared” to commit a maximum-salary extension to Butler should he force his way out of South Beach.
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To be clear, there aren’t even tea leaves pointing toward a Butler exit at the moment.
Despite some rather harsh words about Butler’s inconsistent playing time, Heat president Pat Riley dismissed the idea of a Butler trade. And the six-time All-Star himself has openly communicated his desire to stay.
“I feel at home, man,” Butler told Rohan Nadkarni of GQ Sports. “I really care about the city, I really care about the people in this city. Miami has embraced. They’ve wanted me to bring them something they haven’t done since LeBron, D-Wade and C-Bosh. And I want to do that.”
Yet, the idea of Butler staying and signing a lengthy extension isn’t as straightforward as it sounds.
He’ll turn 35 in September, and there is plenty of tread on his tires—including some high-stress, high-volume minutes under coach Tom Thibodeau, whom he played for in both Chicago and Minnesota. Butler also hasn’t cleared the 70-game mark since 2016-17 and has missed at least 20 games in three of the past four seasons.
He could ink a two-year extension with Miami that would pay him north of $110 million. Yet, the Heat don’t seem publicly sold that he’ll be worth that kind of coin.
“That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night,” Riley told reporters. “That’s the truth.”
Now, is there some in-front-of-the-camera negotiating within those words? Probably.
But those absences are real. And this potential extension is enormous. Things could absolutely get thorny here.
The Sixers are well aware of this and seemingly ready to strike if this goes sideways. As they should be.
Few teams ever get an opportunity like this. Philly has a superstar connection in Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, plus a ton of cap space (potentially north of $60 million) and trade chips to beef up the roster around them. The right addition could not only cement the Sixers as inner-circle contenders, it just might make them the team to beat.
And, yes, Butler could be that addition.
He isn’t quite as clean of an on-paper fit as Paul George, but Butler is an elite two-way talent, a tenacious tone-setter and a close friend of Embiid. Butler has pushed farther than this Philadelphia core has reached on its own, but both are still awaiting their first championship run.
