The Philadelphia 76ers get Jimmy Butler

The Philadelphia 76ers made a trade for Jimmy Butler, making a statement that they are ready to make the next step to the NBA Finals.

The Philadelphia 76ers have made a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for 6’8″ swingman Jimmy Butler, one of the top 10 players in the NBA.

Butler is a four-time NBA All-Star, a four-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree, and a two-time All-NBA selection. He is the big-name player the 76ers tried but failed to add to their lineup in the offseason.

Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news that the Sixers are sending Robert Covington, Dario Saric, and a 2022 second round pick in exchange for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton. USA Today confirmed the trade and added that injured point guard Jerryd Bayless is also part of the deal.

Butler has played both shooting guard and small forward in his NBA career. Although it’s not clear what the new 76ers lineup will look like, we do know that Ben Simmons will start as point guard and Joel Embiid will start at center.

If Markelle Fultz and J.J. Redick continue to split time at shooting guard, Jimmy Butler will play small forward. The final spot in the starting lineup is the problem. Mike Muscala and Jonah Bolden are the only two players on the Sixers’ roster listed at power forward now that Saric is gone.

Muscala, who the 76ers acquired in the off season from the Atlanta Hawks, is on IR with a broken nose. The Sixers front office is high on Bolden, but the rookie has only played five minutes this season. The most obvious replacement is  Wilson Chandler, who started for the Denver Nuggets last year before being traded to Philadelphia.

It will be interesting to see the 76ers figure out a starting lineup, but it is a smaller problem compared to the one they had before the trade. Philly needed another star to compete with the Toronto Raptors, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics. Now they have three stars in their starting lineup, which is the current necessary recipe for a team to compete for the title.

This is the first big move from new general manager Elton Brand and it is one that will most certainly receive praise from 76ers fans and the Philadelphia media. In Butler, the team gets the superstar that eluded them when LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors.

There was real concern in Philadelphia that after years of suffering through three years of trading away the Sixers’ best players to stockpile draft picks, “The Process” had stalled. This move very well may complete the Process and make the 76ers the team the beat in 2018-19.

The Philadelphia 76ers have put the Eastern Conference on notice. They want to win it this year.