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Jimmy Butler Pushed his way out of Minnesota and onto the way he knows how: through force of will.
At his best and his worst, the 29-year-old wing shuns subtleties and neglects nuance-never more than in his final months in Minnesota before Saturday's trade to Philadelphia. If owner Glen Taylor and President Tom Thibodeau were dragging their feet on a deal, Butler would challenge them publicly, call out his teammates, and sit out training camp. If they kept hesitating, Butler would return to the team with an ESPN sit-down interview in tow rather than with his tail between his legacies. If Minnesota seemed to be in the process of keeping an eye on it, Butler would be using it.
On and on it went. If Derrick Rose miraculously scored 50 points, Butler would crash his joyous post-game interview, just to make sure everyone knew he was still there. If the Timberwolves were getting killed in Oakland, Butler would grab a towel and wave it along with the rest of Oracle Arena. If teammate Tyus Jones wanted to watch his brother play for Duke, Butler would have a flat. If fans booed him, Butler would tell the media he did not care-and-genuinely mean it-before playing well enough, for stretches, to earn cheers.
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Butler's exit strategy was entirely transparent: he would do anything to make sure Minnesota acquiesced to his trade request and to make sure the rest of the league never forgot about him. There was little consideration given to potential side effects: the leading damage to a reputation as a leader, the franchise-altering chaos he wreaked in Minnesota, the negative impact he had on Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, and the betrayal of Thibodeau, who oversaw his rise to prominence in Chicago and then bet his job in Minnesota on trading for him.
This scorched-earth approach was disappointing but hardly surprising. When Butler graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2015, he was so close to the tagline: "If you stop or slow down, it's all so disappearable." Indeed, his odds-defying a homelessness to the jet-setting life of a franchise player, from JuCo to All-NBA, from the last player selected in the first round in 2011 to a possible max contract next summer, uncompromising self-belief. He was bound to double-down, and triple-down, and quadruple-down on those principles as he holds the maximum leverage of his career and anticipated the biggest payday of his career.
Even though his tactics were often indefensible, his views on the situation in Minnesota were hard to dispute. The Timberwolves have never been to destination organization for superstars. Taylor has never displayed the commitment and needs to build a contender. Thibodeau has continued to play and has not built a defensive juggernaut. Towns and Wiggins have not been able to play their songs in the playoffs. Together, Butler's take on the Timberwolves were correct in the execution, but expecting him to exhibit discretion, or even a minimal amount of tact was a fool's errand.
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The Sixers represent a tantalizing landing spot for Butler because they will directly test his way of life. This is an organization with a long and proud history, an aggressive and deep-pocketed ownership group, a smart and well-liked coach in Brett Brown, and a pair of A-list rising stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The primary challenge in Philadelphia for Butler will not be shaky commitment from ownership, or lack of modern strategic thinking, or questionable talent around him. No, the defining question will be fit. And, more specifically, Butler's fit.
If Butler storms into Philadelphia like he stormed out of Minnesota, he might well start his plans for May. The Sixers do not need to be challenged to the challenge of the game, and to the touch of the game Simmons, or to scream at Markelle Fultz when he hesitates on a jump shot. They won a playoff series last year, and the Simmons / Embiid duo is set up beautifully for a six-year run at or near the top of the East. Butler must find ways to make those two players better, rather than refashioning their developing partnership in his own image.
That's not to suggest Robert Butler, the 3-and-D wing Philadelphia feels back to Minnesota with Dario Saric. The Sixers' 17th-ranked offense Butler's shot-making, shot-creating and foul-drawing, and he should enjoy a strong pick-and-roll partnership with Embiid. But Brett Brown will need to stagger Simmons and Butler whenever possible, both are primary attackers and less-than-ideal floor-spacers. When they do play together, Butler must be prepared to sacrifice some use and make the most of his keys; Simmons is just too good of a playmaker-and too poor of a shooter-to be moved off the ball regularly.
Defensively, Butler should be in a nutshell. Embiid is everything that Towns, and Simmons is the athletic and versatile perimeter defender that many badysts expected Wiggins to be coming out of Kansas. If things click, this group has 2019 Finals potential: Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee.
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Look for Butler to explode out of the gates in Philadelphia, as he tries to distance himself in Minnesota and ingratiate himself with an organization that can not help but long-term max deal next summer. Once the initial excitement of its promising new surroundings wears off, though, Butler will need to move a delicacy that has long eluded him.
Back in 2015, Thibodeau said of Butler: "If they do not bite as puppies, they usually do not bite Jimmy was biting right from the start." Butler proceeded to rip Thibodeau's legacy, and he must embrace Embiid's alpha game and alpha personality to avoid further bloodshed in Philadelphia. And after failed partnerships with Rose in Chicago and Towns in Minnesota, the onus is now on Butler to make it work with Simmons, whose offensive game deserves respect and requires lots of touches.
During the most infamous episode of his endangered Timberwolves, Butler reportedly stomped into a practice without warning, dominated his teammates, and then declared, "You f – ing need me. You can not win without me. "That feeling was true in Minnesota but it was no longer true in Philadelphia. Butler needs Brown, Embiid, Simmons and even Fultz to win, whether winning is in the playoffs, repairing his reputation, or claiming a monster cashout next July.
Now, let's just hope that Butler can hit the break button on his breakneck journey long enough to realize that his single-minded approach can only take him so far.
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