Getty Images Jimmy Butler during his Sixers debut.
Finally, the Philadelphia 76ers have found an established veteran star to play with. It wasn’t easy and took a ton of time, but the Jimmy Butler experiment is actually here. After making a trade for the Minnesota Timberwolves forward, the Sixers made a few tweaks to their lineup in order to maximize potential moving forward.
On Wednesday night, Butler made his debut with the Sixers on the road against Orlando. Now, the Sixers have beaten the Magic before, so the addition of Butler should’ve been a major key to victory. Unfortunately, Butler’s debut was ruined by a ridiculous run, that left the Sixers blowing a 16-point lead in the second half of the game.
Of course, Butler’s debut wasn’t perfect. He clearly doesn’t know the entire playbook, and he has yet to establish an on-court chemistry with his teammates. These occurrences were expected, as Butler joined the Sixers for practice just hours before tip-off.
Despite being lost at times though, Butler’s debut seemed promising. He dropped 14 points with four rebounds, and two assists in 33 minutes of playing time. His second-lowest amount of minutes all season. Again, as he’s getting adjusted, the Sixers can’t totally maximize his potential. But despite the loss, how did Butler feel during his Sixers debut?
Where’s Butler’s Head At?
“Obviously we didn’t win,” said Butler, who had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes. “Not the outcome we wanted to have.” “But we’ve got a lot more of these things. I think we’ll all be better, myself included. We’ve got another [game] on Friday.”
“I am going to lock into it and figure it all out once they give it to me,” Butler said, referring to Philadelphia’s playbook. “Next game, I guarantee I will know a lot more than I did this game.”
Butler felt a bit lost at times, which was to be expected. Statistically, he had a down night. According to Second Spectrum stats, Butler saw a season-low of touches, which is a meaningless stat when you put it into consideration that he didn’t see as many minutes that he usually would in an offense that he’s used to.
While a victory on Wednesday would’ve been sweet, the objective for the Sixers was to get used to the new starting lineup. With Butler in the picture, JJ Redick has been inserted back into the starting lineup, and Wilson Chandler is slowly, but surely finding himself becoming a full-time player once again as he gets back to one-hundred percent.
Butler and the Sixers will return home on Friday for the new guy’s debut in front of Philly. The Sixers home-court advantage has been real, and you can only imagine how hostile the environment is going to be for the visitors now that Butler is on the squad. We’ll see how everything goes moving forward, but after one game, it’s safe to say that the Sixers can be dangerous if they get their chemistry right quickly.