The Philadelphia 76ers could try to jump on NBA rumors and bring in Jimmy Butler via a trade, but there’s reason for them to avoid a deal like that.
NBA trade rumor season is officially here. When the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to terms on a trade that sent Kyle Korver to the Cavs, it seemed as if a lot of things began to happen around the league. That first trade got teams thinking about the future a bit more More teams began to talk, more rumors came out, and more scenarios began popping into fans’ heads.
One of the most recent rumors to come out is the one that Jimmy Butler is being shopped around by the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have “emphatically denied” these rumors to Marc Stein, but Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report did report that the Bulls are shopping him just a few days ago. So, at this point, with conflicting reports from two reputable journalists, who knows what the truth is with Butler and the Bulls.
One would have to assume that the Bulls are pretty insane for wanting to move Butler, but there has been quite a bit of unrest regarding the Bulls as of late despite their hot start at the beginning of this season.
Trading Butler doesn’t seem like it should be the answer for the Bulls, but if that’s what the Bulls are going with, it would indicate that they’re ready to do a makeover on what fans thought would be the future of the team.
The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that could slip in and grab Butler, and if they did, they would be huge beneficiaries of Butler’s elite play. He’s one of the better players in the league, and could be a piece that pushes the Sixers out of “almost there” as far as being competitive to being right there with the best of the league.
When Sixers fans hear the possibility of the team trading for Butler, the first thought is generally, “uh, yes?” The Sixers haven’t seen a proven player like that in a long time.
Sure, they have exciting young prospects in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and even Dario Saric, but they have not had a proven dominant proven scoring force like Butler in this era. Adding him would change a lot for the team’s current trajectory.
That said, there’s still reason to avoid a trade for Butler, whether he is or is not on the trading block.
Dec 23, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) stands on the court during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. The Hornets defeated the Bulls 103-91. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmy Butler is having the season of his career so far, and that’s with two other decent guards in Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo on the same team as him. So it seems foolish to suggest that the Sixers should pass up on a player like Butler who is in the midst of a crazy good season where he’s scoring like he never has before.
Butler is averaging 25.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game this season.
So why does this indicate the Sixers should pass? Well, there’s not a whole lot of room for Butler to go up from here. This whole rebuilding process for the Sixers has been about ensuring that the timelines with players match up, and the ceilings of most of the players occur all at the same time. With Butler approaching his ceiling rapidly, he will hit the paragon of his career within the next two or three seasons, if not this year. No matter when he hits his ceiling over the next few years, there’s no doubt that his ceiling will come far before the younger players’ ceilings come on the team.
With that in mind, the decline of Butler could be right around the corner. How rapid of a decline and when exactly the decline will start is up for debate, but it’s logical to conclude that it will start well before players like Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons begin to go downhill.
If Butler is brought in and thought of as that final piece that pushes them straight through to competitiveness, and he’s going to start declining much quicker than the rest of the core, the Sixers are just adding more issues for themselves later. Once Butler is past his prime and not efficient enough to be reliable on a nightly basis for 20-plus points, they’ll have to go out and get another offensive option.
The counter argument here would be that the Sixers can use a draft pick this year to add a young guard to their roster, have him learn and develop beneath Butler, and then have him slip into a role of leadership once Butler is past his prime.
That makes perfect sense, but the development of said drafted guard may take longer if Butler is taking a lot of his game minutes away in the early stages of that players’ career.
It’s all about timing, really. Butler might have been a nice pickup if the Sixers could have timed things so there was still a lot of room for Butler to go alongside the rest of the roster, or even if he was an addition to an already competitive Sixers team, but he just doesn’t fit with what’s with the team right now.
Dec 28, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) dribbles the ball against Brooklyn Nets guard Randy Foye (2) during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Another glaring reason that the Sixers need to stay away from a Butler trade is that they will likely have to give up a lot in return for him. The reasons why the Bulls would want to trade a player as good as Butler are unknown — and quite frankly, hard to think about logically — but no matter how you splice it, the Bulls are going to want a decent return.
On one hand, if the Bulls are looking to be competitive now still, they will want pieces that let them do that. And considering they’re paying Butler just about $60 million over the next 3 years, they’re going to want a value that matches up with that on the floor.
More from The Sixer Sense
Butler is Chicago’s leading scorer, so giving him up sacrifices a lot. This would not be a trade where the Bulls are going to let the Sixers get out with good value. In addition, the Sixers might not even have the pieces that the Bulls want in return for Butler, making it impossible for Philly to get him without bringing in a third team.
On the other hand, if the Bulls want to trade Butler because they’re looking to tank, they’re going to want pieces that help them tank. If this were the scenario, it makes the Sixers ideal trade partners because of all of the pieces they have — draft picks, young prospects, stashed rights to European players — that would help a team get going on a rebuild.
That said, the Sixers should still be looking to use quite a bit of those aforementioned rebuilding pieces. The draft picks can help them bolster their already decent core in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, and the stashed players — Furkan Korkmaz, especially — could prove to be valuable at a later time.
The Sixers would be giving up less immediate value and adding a lot to their team in the short run if the Bulls are looking to start a rebuild, but truthfully, it hurts the team in the long run to give up a lot of their future picks (which they would have to to pay for Butler).
Butler is a great player, and just because he’s rumored to be available doesn’t mean he’s available on a discount. The asking price is still huge on him.
Apr 13, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) dribbles the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Lastly, and this may be a huge reason to stay away from Butler and players like him, is that a backcourt with him and Ben Simmons would give up a lot defensively. The frontcourt defense looks to be pretty good over the next few years with Joel Embiid leading the pack, but the first line of defense is the perimeter, and neither Butler or Simmons look to be too good at guarding some of the oppositions’ point guards.
While the Sixers would match up well with a team like the Milwaukee Bucks that also runs tall in the backcourt, they would sacrifice a ton of points against teams that posses point guards like Isaiah Thomas in the back.
This metaphor may not be one everyone can picture, but when farmers take care of chickens, they often have to pick them up themselves and put them in the coop. Chickens are much smaller, quicker, and more agile than humans, and therefore, the task can prove to be pretty difficult. Imagine a full-grown man or woman struggling to out-do a chicken — it’s kind of fun to watch.
It’d be much of the same for the Sixers going up against smaller, quicker guards in the NBA. These guards will blow right by Simmons and Butler, and could very well have the skill sets to maneuver their way around even the best of rim protecters like Nerlens Noel or Joel Embiid as well.
Letting your first line of defense be that tall and that lacking on the defensive end is not a great idea. While a Butler/Simmons pair would be a dream on offense, the Sixers would either have to run Simmons as a forward on defense and work someone else on the point guards, or simply not make this trade. Not making the trade is probably the easier route, considering all of the addiitonal reasons that Butler doesn’t make sense for the Sixers at this point in time.
