76ers should make surprise push for Kevin Durant if Jimmy Butler leaves

Even though the Philadelphia 76ers haven’t been listed as potential landing spots for Kevin Durant this summer, the team should still consider the possibility of Jimmy Butler leaves.

Would Kevin Durant ever consider the possibility of joining a team like the Philadelphia 76ers, especially if Jimmy Butler were to end up leaving this summer in free agency?

While most of the attention surrounding Durant at the moment is on the devastating injury suffered by the star forward in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, basketball fans can’t help but wonder if this was the last time he’ll be wearing a Golden State Warriors uniform.

As bad as it sounds, Durant’s injury appeared to be serious enough in which there were some regrets over playing in Game 5 since it had previously been 32 days since he was able to actually suit up in a game due to a calf injury.

Time will tell when it comes to the seriousness of this latest injury surrounding Durant, but even if he were to miss part of next season, this isn’t going to prevent teams from still heavily pursuing him in free agency if available.

Obviously, “if available” is the key term here since Durant could easily decide to stick around with the Warriors to continue putting him in great position to add more championships to his resume.

But if Durant were to explore other possibilities outside of Golden State this summer, Philadelphia should figure out a way to sneak into the free agency sweepstakes if things failed to work out with Butler.

Despite the recent rumors surrounding the Sixers, and how they could offer Butler a max deal, there are no guarantees when it comes to professional sports, meaning he would very well end up on a different team.

If this were to happen to be the case, Philadelphia would be in the same exact position they were in last summer when it comes to being in need of a third superstar to play alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Unfortunately if this long-shot scenario were to ever become a possibility, the Sixers would face tough competition in other teams pursuing Durant as well since teams like the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers would most likely be in on the action too.

Of course, Butler still seems to be the top priority at the moment for Philadelphia to re-sign in free agency after looking at how close the team came this past season to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Raptors.

Still, if Butler were to somehow end up on another team such as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sixers would need to figure out some sort of backup plan.

Despite a few factors that could work against Philadelphia such as whether Durant would even leave the Warriors or how long his latest injury could take to recover from, the move would still seem worth at least considering if Butler ends up being out of the picture.

Convincing Durant to join the Sixers over other potential teams expressing interest certainly wouldn’t be easy or cheap, but after the way things played out the last two seasons, Philadelphia may not of a choice if they want to remain true contenders in the Eastern Conference.