Getty Philadelphia 76ers guard Jimmy Butler
Exactly a week ago, the Philadelphia 76ers upgraded by adding Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott to their roster at the NBA’s trade deadline.
“Honestly, I found out at 1:30 in the morning when [LA Clippers] Doc Rivers called my hotel room [in Charlotte],” Tobias Harris said recently.
“I was watching this Netflix series on Ted Bundy. When the phone rang, I was super scared. Who the heck is calling me at 1:30 in the morning while I’m watching this Netflix series? And the series is kind of scary itself! So, I was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’”
GettyPhiladelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris
What’s going on is that the 76ers are competing for a championship and the 76ers starting five is scary: Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons Tobias and Jimmy Butler are nightmares for opposing teams!
With Harris joining the Sixers, it begs the question: Will Jimmy Butler return to the City of Brotherly Love next season.
“That’s a great question,” FS1’s Chris Broussard told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“I mean, if Philly offers him a five-year, $190 million, he’s staying there. If he doesn’t, if they don’t, I mentioned the Lakers before, I think that’d be a good fit, I think that’s something he should look at. But if he doesn’t want to play in LeBron’s shadow, I mean if goes to the Clippers, I don’t know if KD, I know he and KD are friends, would he try to team up with KD?”
That sentiment from Broussard falls in line with what a league source shared with me in January.
Per my source: Jimmy Butler “would love” to team up with Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles.
More specifically: Jimmy loves LA and as of now, still “has his eyes on the Clippers in free agency.”
Those aren’t the only options according to Broussard. “Would he go to Brooklyn,” he said on Scoop B Radio.
“You know, some teams aren’t going to be interested in him because of his attitude, so I think that’s the million dollar question. And I think Philly has to decide quickly if they want to, you know, have him be a part of their future long-term, and if not, they need to move him, rather than lose him for nothing.”
Winning six of their last ten games, the 76ers are 37-21 and in fifth place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Philly is clicking at the All-Star break while fitting their new pieces in their system.
In that process, Butler’s numbers have dipped. Averaging 18 points, 5 rebounds and a shade under 4 assists per game this season, those digits are his lowest since the 2013-14 season with the Chicago Bulls; his third year in the NBA.
But he’s still effective.
Just last night, Butler only took six shots from the floor, but connected on four of them while hitting all five of his free-throw attempts to add 13 points in the Sixers 126-111 victory over the New York Knicks. Butler also a dded eight assists, seven boards, three steals and two blocked shots for a well-rounded statistical night.