You know it’s a big transaction when the team’s championship
odds are sliced in half in Vegas. That’s about what happened when Jimmy Butler
was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Sixers. Philadelphia’s odds
to win the NBA championship when from 30-1 to 16-1, and after coach Brett Brown
declared the team to be “star hunting” over the summer, the team appears to
have found its third star to go with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
The “star hunting” quote was going to loom over Brown until
this kind of move was made. The Sixers were connected to LeBron James and Paul
George in the summer and had been a popular trade destination for Kawhi
Leonard. After striking out on all three, this season’s roster looked to be
very similar to the one that lost in the second round in 2017-18. The franchise’s
much-maligned rebuilding plan yielded the most wins in a season since 2000-01, but
the consensus surrounding the organization was that one more star was needed to
truly contend.
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| David Swanson/Philly.com |
Among other things, Butler gives the Sixers a much-needed player
to match up with the likes of Boston wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both
of whom played well in last year’s playoff series won by the Celtics in five
games. He’s a versatile wing scorer that the rebuild lacked. Though there are
some red flags that come with the acquisition. First and foremost, Butler can
go to free agency next summer and until he’s inked to an extension, he can’t be
penciled in for the long haul. Another obvious concern that will linger for the
remainder of the season will be Butler’s chemistry and temperament with the abundance
of young players on the Sixers roster. Butler grew unhappy with the culture in
Minnesota, another roster loaded with youth, and it eventually lead to a toxic
situation that reached a point of no return.
One of those young players whose career has not started
according to plan is second-year combo guard Markelle Fultz. Fultz’s
well-documented shooting struggles appear to be a part of a bigger mental
problem that has hindered the early stages of his career after being selected
first overall in the 2017 draft. While the internet has had some fun with the
idea of Fultz and Butler clashing, it will be interesting to see how this
impacts Fultz’s season and potentially long-term future with the Sixers. He’s
started all 14 games so far this season, though with Butler now in as the third
star, it’s fair to wonder just how big of a role Fultz will ever grow to see with
the Sixers.
Whether Fultz hits his ceiling, is a colossal bust, or
becomes something in between the two, there’s no doubt that 2018-19 gets a lot
bigger for the Sixers when Butler first steps on the floor tomorrow night with
the team in Orlando. Three stars seems to be the bare minimum to win a
championship in today’s NBA, and in a wide-open East, a move like this certainly
revitalized the fanbase after an inconsistent start marred by lots of struggles
on the road. In making this move, the Sixers parted with pillars of “The
Process” in Dario Saric and Robert Covington. Both are useful role players on
cheap contracts and moving them for a star in the prime of his career with a player option to head to free agency next summer was a clear indicator that the organization is hitting
the accelerator.
In a lot of ways, last season was the “happy to be here”
year for the Sixers. The results of their rebuilding project were coming to fruition
on the court and it led to a playoff berth and eventual series win against the
Miami Heat. Losing to a longtime rival in Boston put a lot of those positive emotions
aside though and had fans ready to take the next step. Fans grew impatient after
the offseason did not net a star player. For at least the rest of this season,
the Sixers have that star player and no longer is it just okay to make the
playoffs or even win only one round. Expectations are as high as they’ve been
in almost two decades, and now it’s time to see if they’ll meet them.
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