Getty Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid could be together again.
When it comes to improving a franchise, the phrase “never say never” rings true. The latest trade rumors involving the Philadelphia 76ers have them monitoring Jimmy Butler’s situation in Miami, setting up a potential reunion for the City of Brotherly Love and Jimmy Buckets.
According to Brian Windhorst on the May 3 edition of “Get Up,” the 76ers’ main trade targets are Butler and Brandon Ingram, with Paul George their main free agent desire. Butler has one year left on his current contract, at $48.7 million, with a player option for the 2025-26 season at $52.4 million (via Spotrac).
The 76ers could create $65 million in cap space, making the financials of a Butler deal feasible.
Jimmy Butler’s Last Stint in Philadelphia
After spending his first six seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Butler was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that included Zach LaVine. After 17 months and just 69 games in a Timberwolves uniform, Butler was moved again, this time to the 76ers.
The 2018-19 76ers were memorable in that they had a 22-year-old Ben Simmons paired with 24-year-old Joel Embiid and 26-year-old Tobias Harris. Add in veteran guard JJ Redick alongside Butler, and you have a team with high expectations.
They’d win 51 games en route to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, winning one series against the Nets before succumbing to the Toronto Raptors in soul-crushing fashion in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Jimmy Butler to South Beach
After just a portion of a season with the 76ers, Butler was involved in yet another trade, this one a sign-and-trade involving four teams, ultimately landing Butler with the Miami Heat. The next four seasons saw the Heat make the playoffs each season, with exits in the NBA Finals twice (2020, 2023), the Eastern Conference Finals once (2022), and the first round (2021) once. A right MCL injury kept him out of their 2024 first-round exit.
Butler is in the middle of a three-year contract extension he signed with the Heat on August 7, 2021, worth $146.4 million. Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald noted that Butler is expected to ask for the maximum extension, roughly $113 million over two seasons, adding “Butler and his camp will push for that extension before the start of the upcoming season. Choosing not to offer this exact extension this offseason could lead to a disgruntled Butler.”
A Jimmy & Joel Reunion
Does a disgruntled Butler equal a return to Philadelphia? What’s interesting about the situation isn’t so much that Butler left the 76ers, but why? According to Justin Grasso of SI.com, there were multiple factors:
“One, Butler didn’t see eye to eye with former 76ers head coach Brett Brown. And two, Butler heard that some of the higher-ups in the organization were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to “control him,” which rubbed him the wrong way.”
Grasso continued:
“Embiid has made it very clear over the last two years that he believes the Sixers made a mistake getting rid of Butler. Now, the veteran center hints the Sixers did it because Ben Simmons needed to be the ball-handler.”
A core of Embiid, Butler and Tyrese Maxey would prove to be a formidable squad. Clearing the cap space and making a trade would surely deplete the 76ers of much of their draft capital (which is surprisingly intact) and it would be hard to fill out a roster without cap flexibility (see Suns, Phoenix), but a chance at an NBA Championship that has eluded the 76ers franchise for 41 years would be well worth the cost.