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Tim BontempsESPN
MIAMI – It took more than two days, but Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown could finally talk about acquiring striker Jimmy Butler before Monday 's game against the Heat.
And now that the four-time All-Star is finally in the ranks, Brown is eager to start working with him when Butler joins the team for Wednesday's game against the Orlando Magic.
"I mean where to start," Brown said at the American Airlines Arena. "I think that, on the defensive, and with the physique with which he plays, he reproduces … he reflects the spirit of Philadelphia.
"He's a fierce competitor and he plays hard, that's what he is, he wears it on his face, and that's what is evident in his game. -Defense and it fits perfectly to our city and our program defensively. "
There are big questions about Jimmy Butler's fit alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the troubled Sixers offense.
Star striker Jimmy Butler is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, after the Minnesota Timberwolves and themselves had received approval from the league's office on Monday on the terms of the agreed exchange. weekend.
In the wake of Jimmy Butler's impending trade exchanges between Minnesota and Philadelphia, the Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns and forward Andrew Wiggins did nothing but praise for their departing team mate.
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The transaction to send Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves to Philadelphia was accepted on Saturday, but was not officially completed before the commercial call between the two teams on Monday morning. That said, the deal – which sent Butler and Justin Patton to the Sixers and Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a second-round pick at Wolves – could be announced, ending mercy. a saga of six weeks since Butler asked for an exchange.
Along the way, Butler has stepped up her efforts to speed up her departure: spend part of the training camp on her return in a televised interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols and attend games from regular season due to "general pain."
But questioned about how things were going in Minnesota, and if that worried him when Butler came to Philadelphia, Brown said that as long as the line of communication remained open, he did not see the problem.
"He and I have FaceTimed, we've talked on the phone, we've been there and it's a comfortable conversation," said Brown, who said he spoke to Butler during a 20-minute run . "I do just about anything, but it's the NBA, it's my job and the way we integrate ourselves into a pretty strong culture and fabric. … We're in six It's not like we have not got the way we behave and how we play, it's exposed, we've been doing it for a while.
"So, to inherit from him, to absorb Jimmy into our culture and into that locker room, I'm fearless, I'm incredibly excited because, what I know, is that he cares about he and that he's competing.You take these two qualities, and all the others I'll understand, I have it.I think I have it.
"I'm really excited to get him into the program, I think he's at a stage of his career, in his basketball life, where I think we can help him as much that he can help us as much as I say. "
The other question surrounding Butler's arrival is to find out what it means for Philadelphia's starter training. The Sixers already had a complicated arrangement to manage even before the exchange. Markelle Fultz, last year's number one pick, started the first half of the game, while JJ Redick replaced him for the second half.
On Monday, the Sixers started Fultz and Redick alongside Ben Simmons, Wilson Chandler and Joel Embiid. When Butler arrives on Wednesday, he will occupy one of these positions – it is quite likely that it will be Fultz that he will replace. With Simmons, Butler and Embiid on the ground, Philadelphia needs quality shooters and players who do not need the ball around them – something that Redick is and Fultz is not.
Brown said that he knew what he was going to do, but that he was not ready to discuss it.
"In my head, I know, [but] in my mouth, I will not say it, "he said with a smile. I do not feel comfortable at the moment by stating this for the market.
"So tonight we're going to roll in. But it's something, like everything, it's not reflex. I hope it's well thought out. I know that Is well thought out. "
Brown also said that it was difficult to see Covington and Saric leave the team. Now in his sixth season with the franchise, Brown has coached both players since arriving in Philadelphia – Covington in 2014 and Saric in 2016.
"There was a natural human pain to the loss of two friends and two teammates and two people that I felt I was raising," Brown said. "You know, we fished Dario at the end of my first year, and we knew that he would not come for a while, we would visit him in Spain and I would see him every year in Turkey." three-ball in the G-League for the Houston team, and we learned that he could play in defense and that he became the first team [All-Defensive team] player, and then was somebody [we] thought enough to give him $ 60 million.
"So, you've seen these two young men flourish and grow up before our eyes, and, you know, you'll miss it."
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