est wrote:
In hindsight, I think the 6ers would have been better off without the Butler trade. Adding Harris with Saric and Covington still there would make for a stronger and more balanced team.
ive been thinking more deeply about butler and how he fits in the last 2 weeks, and i think actually im glad he is on this team right now. basically, he has changed his offensive game. for 3 quarters, he plays within the flow of the offense, hes happy to serve as a facilitator and passer and focus on playing defense. in the 4th quarter when the game slows down, the team is running more plays for him (middle pnr, iso) specifically, and hes hitting those shots. last night he said that was his role, and hes happy with it. in the playoffs, when the games get tight, that is the kind of player you want. saric and covington are both very limited players. covington can't dribble with the basketball and attack closeouts. butler is a 1 man offense at times when he needs to be. cov is a slightly better defender, especially off ball, but butler is a great one on one defender. he seems to be playing at 75% right now, conserving his energy, and after what thibs did to him for his pre-sixers career, im fine with that approach. saric would have been targeted heavily in the playoffs because hes a bad athlete and struggles defending consistently without help.
the bigger question is, do you pay someone $35m a year for 5 years as a free agent, as a 29 soon to be 30 year old free agent, when hes at best the 3rd most important part of the team. i was leaning towards no, but the sixers really have limited options. if they wait to sign harris to a max (which i think they will, and he will be okay with it), they can renounce all their FA rights (redick, scott, boban, etc) including butler and they can still sign a 7-9 year FA to a max. however, they'd need to know which guy that should be, and that guy would need to offer more than butler will. of the FA options, really only klay and kawhi fit that mold, and neither of them are coming to philly. so, the question then is, are you better off spending the $35m butler would command on bringing back redick and a few bench guys instead of butler? im less certain that is a good idea. if the owners are willing to pay the luxury tax, then i think you just max out butler and tobias, you pray that butler's lower workloads in philly, where he doesnt have to iso 40 times a game, mean that he will age more gracefully and only the last year of his 5 year deal is problematic. harris, embiid and simmons are all 26 or younger. the core is there. then you use redick's bird rights and give him a reasonable 2 year deal, you bring back mike scott with bird rights, and you have the full mid level exception to bring in one more impactful bench guy who is hopefully willing to take a bit less for a shot at a ring.
this summer is going to be absolutely bonkers with all the moving pieces around the league. durant, kyrie, kawhi, butler. its going to be insane.
