Miami finalizing sign-and-trade with 76ers to acquire Jimmy Butler, sources tell ESPN
The Miami Heat are finalizing a sign-and-trade with the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire star guard Jimmy Butler, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Miami will send guard Josh Richardson to Philadelphia as part of the deal, sources said.
It has been an eventful two years for Butler. The No. 30 pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls developed into a three-time All-Star in the Windy City -- only eventually to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and reunited with his former coach, Tom Thibodeau, two summers ago.
Then, after getting Minnesota to its first playoff appearance without Kevin Garnett on the roster, Butler requested a trade last fall. And, after a chaotic few weeks, eventually landed in Philadelphia in exchange for forwards Robert Covington and Dario Saric in November. He was later joined by Tobias Harris, whom the Sixers acquired just before February's trade deadline, to arguably create the NBA's most star-studded lineup.
Butler's time in Philadelphia was rocky but, ultimately, he proved exactly what the Sixers hoped he would be in the playoffs: the kind of closer the team believed it was lacking after a disappointing loss in five games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2018. Ultimately, though, Philadelphia fell just short of beating the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals thanks to Kawhi Leonard's insane four-bounce buzzer-beater in Game 7.
Butler, who turns 30 in September, averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.9 steals in 65 combined games in Minnesota and Philadelphia this past season.
