Jimmy Butler has been in Philadelphia for two months and over that period of time the Sixers are 16-8, climbing into the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.
While the results on the court have been pretty good, all is not necessarily well in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid noted he was having a bit of an issue finding his comfort zone with Butler on the floor after a month together, and just generally there’s been some apparent tension on the court.
Butler, of course, carries with him quite the reputation of being, at best, direct with criticism and, at worst, a disruptive force in the locker room. Recently, a report came out that Butler had aggressively challenged coach Brett Brown over the offensive system in place in Philadelphia, with some thinking Butler crossed a line in how he went about raising his frustrations with the coach. Butler wants more isolation and pick-and-roll sets called, while the Sixers tend to play something of a more free-flowing, ball-movement focused offense.
According to Bleacher Report’s Yaron Weitzman, teams caught wind of that report and began poking around, placing calls to Philadelphia in hopes of finding out Butler could be on the market. The Sixers, however, have shot down those efforts swiftly.
According to a Sixers source, opposing GMs have already called to ask if this latest blowup means Butler might be on the market. This, as rumors swirl around NBA circles that the Sixers, spooked that Butler will bolt when he becomes a free agent this summer, are contemplating dealing Butler before the trade deadline. The Sixers source firmly denied that the team has even considered dealing Butler.
None of this is tremendously shocking, as teams are naturally going to place calls at the first signs of possible discontent, and it’d be absurd of the Sixers to punt on Butler so soon given what they gave up for him and that, despite the somewhat disconcerting chatter, they’re playing better basketball with him.
That last part is, of course, the Jimmy Butler experience in a nutshell. There will be noise and at times questions about how he goes about things, but typically his teams are vastly better with him on the floor. As long as the Sixers can keep those possible distractions from upsetting Embiid, Ben Simmons, and the rest of their core, they’ll be a better team. This summer, they’ll have to decide if having Butler around will work long-term.
