Jimmy Butler makes Sixers better but comes with plenty of risk

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Let’s start with this: the Sixers will be a better basketball team the first time they take the floor with Jimmy Butler.

He’s a great player and one of the top two-way wings in the NBA. He’ll give the Sixers a fighting chance against Toronto and Boston.

But with all bold decisions, there’s always risk. 

When the trade becomes official Monday, Elton Brand will have acquired the third star he’s coveted since his first day on the job. Though the value was fair, he’ll also give up two of the main cogs of the team.

Dario Saric and Robert Covington are not All-Stars. Neither was going to bloom into the superstar piece the team needed to complement Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

But both players earned starting roles on a team that won 52 games and a playoff round last season. Both played with toughness and were beloved by their teammates. Chemistry is a real thing in sports and the vibe in the Sixers’ locker room has been extremely positive for the last year plus. 

Which brings us back to Butler. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know how Butler came to be a Sixer. His well-publicized issue with the Timberwolves’ young players had Butler looking to get out of Minnesota. 

His wish has been granted and surely Butler will say and do all the right things when he arrives. But how long will that last? He had issues with Derrick Rose in Chicago, so this isn’t an isolated incident.

Butler is known as a hard worker and a fierce competitor. It’s no secret that the defense of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins leaves a lot of to be desired. It’s been reported that part of Butler’s wanting to leave is that he didn’t feel Towns and Wiggins were on his level on that end of the floor. With the Sixers that clearly won’t be an issue.

What could be is, the offensive end of the floor. Butler is a proficient scorer that has the ability to score on all three levels: around the basket, in the mid-range and from three. 

That said, three-point shooting isn’t Butler’s strength. He’s shooting 38 percent from three this season but is only a 34 percent career shooter from downtown. Butler also isn’t a great catch-and-shoot guy. He shot just 33.7 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts last season. Without Saric and Covington, two of the team’s best three-point shooters last season, that ability will need to be replaced.

Butler has no problem getting buckets, but the way he gets them could be. He’s a player that needs the ball in his hands and scores in isolation. That’ll help the Sixers in the sense that they need another shot creator, but it could present a challenge when you consider how much Embiid and Simmons also handle the ball.

Then there’s age. If the Sixers are able to sign Butler to a max deal this summer, it’ll kick in at the start of his age 30 season. Butler’s hard-nosed, two-way play can take a toll on a player’s body. He hasn’t played 82 games since 2012-13 and has failed to reach 70 games in four of the last five seasons. Sure, 60 games of Butler is better than none, but it has to be a concern.

While Butler is great and will make the Sixers better immediately, he comes with plenty of long-term risk.

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