Philadelphia 76ers: Josh Richardson is a better fit than Jimmy Butler

While Josh Richardson may not be as highly regarded around the league as Jimmy Butler, he’s a much better fit in the Philadelphia 76ers’ starting five.

When the Philadelphia 76ers made an early-season trade to acquire four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves, it felt like an answer to fans’ prayers.

Sure, Brett Brown already had a pair of burgeoning stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons under contract for the foreseeable future, but Butler perfectly skirted the line between the two dynamic bigs and gave Philly the perfect complimentary piece to fill out their Big 3.

In a lot of ways, Butler perfectly exemplified Philadelphia’s unique brand of basketball; He was big, he was tough, and he played wicked defense. With a big mouth and the game to back it up, one would be forgiven if they assumed Butler was born in the Schuylkill River and grew up a native son of Ben Franklin, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be: Butler just isn’t built to be a third wheel.

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Within weeks of arriving in the City of Brotherly Love, whispers of disputes between Butler and the coaching staff over his usage started to rumble, with questions of his long-term fit becoming more and more frequent.

Granted, Butler kept it professional, and his personal issues hardly limited the team’s potential on the court, as they still finished out the season as a third seed in the East and coasted all the way to the semifinals, but Mr. Buckets inability to shoot consistently from 3 and unwillingness to accept a complementary role ultimately put the final nail in the coffin of his long-term fit.

Though we may never know if the Sixers actually offered Butler the full five-year max when free agency opened up, it became all but certain that he would leave the team, but fortunately, he didn’t do so empty-handed.

That’s right, in a weird twist of fate, Butler became solely focused on taking up longtime friend Dwyane Wade‘s role as the face of the Miami Heat and would do whatever he could to make that happen. That meant executing a big, four-team deal to free up some cap room, and a player-for-player swap that sent Butler to South Beach, and a 25-year-old combo guard/forward back to Philly.

And if initial results are of any indication, Josh Richardson looks like a better version of Jimmy Butler than the actual Jimmy Butler.

Sure, Richardson isn’t as big, athletic, or defensively dominant, but he really doesn’t need to be. While Butler’s talent made him an ideal trade acquisition, even if it cost ‘Process’ favorites Robert Covington and Dario Saric to get the deal done, his inability to operate as a second banana is a major factor in why he’s preparing to play for his fourth team in as many seasons this fall.

Richardson, on the other hand, has accepted virtually any role he was offered over his tenure in Miami, playing shooting guard when Wade left for Chicago, playing small forward when he came back, and even moonlighting at times as the team’s point guard.

Speaking of point guard, Richardson earned his first start of the (pre)season at the one in place of Ben Simmons against the Detroit Pistons on October 16th, and he looked quite impressive – putting up 11 points, six assists, five rebounds, and a steal in 26 minutes of action.

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While only time will tell exactly what role Josh Richardson will be asked to play for the Philadelphia 76ers this fall, whether he’s exclusively used as a shooting guard, plays some small forward alongside rookie steal machine Matisse Thybulle, or even earns minutes as the team’s point guard down the stretch (like Jimmy Butler during the playoffs) it’s clear Elton Brand identified a fourth-option uniquely positioned to fill a variety of roles on the team without a bloated desire to be the guy – and pout if he isn’t.