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Jimmy Butler has pioneered a path outside Minnesota to join a competitor as he knows it: by the force of his will.
At its best and at its worst, the 29-year-old wing avoids subtleties and neglects nuances – never as much as in her last few months in Minnesota, before the Saturday transaction in Philadelphia. If owner Glen Taylor and President Tom Thibodeau dragged on an agreement, Butler would challenge them publicly, call his teammates and attend a training camp. If they were hesitant, Butler would come back in the team with an ESPN interview sitting in tow rather than with his tail between his legs. If Minnesota seemed to want to keep it until the deadline, Butler would use his state of health to justify missing games and to publicly question the number of minutes of his time.
And so on. If Derrick Rose scored miraculously 50 points, Butler would crush his cheery post-match interview, just to make sure everyone knew he was still there. If the Timberwolves were killed in Oakland, Butler would take a towel and shake it with the rest of Oracle Arena. If his teammate Tyus Jones wanted to watch his brother play for Duke, Butler would lend him a plane. If the fans nodded, Butler would tell the media that he did not care – and honestly thought so – before playing well enough, for stretching, to win applause.
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Butler 's exit strategy was entirely transparent: it would do anything to make sure Minnesota accepted its exchange request and that the rest of the league never forget it. The potential side effects were little taken into account: permanent damage to his reputation as a leader, the chaos that he created in Minnesota, which altered his franchise, the negative consequences he had for Karl -Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins and the treason of Thibodeau. who oversaw his rise to power in Chicago, then bet his job in Minnesota on trading for him.
This scorched approach was disappointing but not surprising. When Butler made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2015, he made it next to the slogan: "If you stop or slow down, it could all go away." Indeed, his irresistible odds shift from homelessness to the life of a franchise. player, from JuCo to All-NBA, from the last player selected in the first round in 2011 to a maximum possible contract next summer, unfolded because its default settings are a constant movement and an uncompromising self-confidence. He was forced to double, triple and quadruple these principles, as he had the most profit from his career and anticipated the biggest pay day of his career.
Although his tactics were often indefensible, his views on the situation in Minnesota were difficult to challenge. Timberwolves have never been a destination organization for superstars. Taylor has never demonstrated the commitment and know-how needed to create a competitor. Thibodeau continued to play his stars too long and did not build a defensive juggernaut. The cities and the Wiggins have not proven that they are ready to play a leading role in a team that qualifies for the playoffs. Together, Butler's comments about the Timberwolves were bottom-up and terribly wrong at the time of the execution, but to expect him to exercise discretion, patience or even a minimum of tact was the task crazy.
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The Sixers are an attractive landing spot for Butler, as they will directly test his way of life. It's an organization with a long and proud history, an aggressive and deeply committed ownership group, a smart and beloved Brett Brown coach, and a pair of rising stars ranked among Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. For Butler, the main challenge in Philadelphia will not be the chaotic commitment on the part of property, nor the lack of modern strategic thinking, nor a questionable talent around it. No, the determining question will be adapted. And, more specifically, the form of Butler.
If Butler breaks into Philadelphia and Minnesota, he might as well start booking his vacation plans for May. The Sixers do not need anyone to challenge Embiid's manhood, to touch and marginalize Simmons, or to shout at Markelle Fultz when he hesitates on a shot back. They won the playoffs last year and the Simmons / Embiid duo rode well for a six-year run at the very top of the East. Butler needs to find ways to make these two players better, rather than reshape their developing partnership in their own image.
That's not to say that Butler has to work like an oversized version of Robert Covington, the Philadelphia 3D wing sent back to Minnesota with Dario Saric. The 17th-ranked Sixers striker can afford to shoot, create and score goals, but he should have a strong pick-and-roll partnership with Embiid. But Brett Brown will have to shift Simmons and Butler as much as possible, as they are both leading attackers and unstoppable ground spacers. When they play together, Butler must be willing to give up certain uses and make the most of his touch. Simmons is simply too good for the playmaker – and too poor for a shooter – to be regularly removed from the ball.
On the defense, Butler is expected to sneak into the Sixers group, which ranks seventh this year, after being ranked third last year. Embiid is all that Towns is not about rim protection and general awareness. Simmons is the sporty and versatile defender that many analysts expected to see out of Wiggins Kansas. If things click, this group has the potential for the 2019 finals: a top-three defense and an above-average attack could be enough to pass through Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee.
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Expect Butler to explode on the doorstep of Philadelphia as he tries to distance himself from the ugliness of Minnesota and have fun with an organization that can sign a long-term contract for next summer. Once the initial excitement of his new promising environment has dissipated, Butler will have to move with a delicacy that has long eluded him.
In 2015, Thibodeau said about Butler: "If they do not bite like puppies, they usually do not bite – Jimmy was biting from the start." Butler then tore Thibodeau's leg and he has to adopt the alpha game and alpha personality of Embiid to avoid further bloodshed in Philadelphia. And after failed partnerships with Rose in Chicago and Towns in Minnesota, it's now up to Butler to make it work with Simmons, whose offensive match deserves respect and requires a lot of attention.
During the most infamous episode of his match against the Timberwolves, Butler would have stomped without training, dominated his teammates, then said, "You need me. You can not win without me. This feeling was true in Minnesota, but this is no longer the case in Philadelphia. Butler needs Brown, Embiid, Simmons and even Fultz to win, whether it's winning in playoffs, restoring his reputation or claiming a monster cashing next July.
Now, let's just hope Butler can press the pause button on his dizzying journey long enough to realize that his determined approach can only lead him to this point.
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