Philadelphia 76ers: Trading for Jimmy Butler already paying off in big way

Even though it’s only been less than a month, Jimmy Butler is fitting in pretty great with the Philadelphia 76ers.

It seems like only yesterday in which the Philadelphia 76ers pulled off the unthinkable by acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it’s crazy to think how it’s only been a couple of weeks.

After losing the way they did in the semifinals of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics, the Sixers did everything in their power to bring on another star player in the offseason to play alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

Despite talking with LeBron James before he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers along with reaching out to the San Antonio Spurs about Kawhi Leonard before he was traded to the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia unfortunately came up short in their goal to land a superstar.

Even with the team being linked to Butler a few times in the summer when it seemed like the Timberwolves were going to trade the star forward, the Sixers unfortunately couldn’t get any major moves done before the official start of the 2018-19 season.

With that being said, Philadelphia has every reason in the world to be thrilled about how things worked out when seeing how much Butler has been clicking with his new teammates since coming on board.

Butler’s first game may have turned into a bust after the Sixers were embarrassed in a road loss to the Orlando Magic. But since that contest, Philadelphia has won six of seven games, and has seen Butler hit the game-winning shot in two of them.

Rightfully so when seeing how things previously played out during his time with the Chicago Bulls and Timberwolves, there were some concerns surrounding Butler’s being selfish on the court, and making the situation more complicated instead of showing improvement.

When seeing how Butler has done an amazing job being the kind of teammate the Sixers need him to be, one can only imagine what these next couple of months are going to have in store for Brett Brown’s team.

Philadelphia knew the best way to compete with other top contenders in the Eastern Conference such as Boston and the Toronto Raptors was to figure out a way to develop their own version of the Big Three.

The Sixers obviously still have a long way to go since it hasn’t even been a month as mentioned before, but with Butler seeming to look more comfortable by the game, this team has to love the direction they’re heading as a top contender in the Eastern Conference once again.