REPORT: Rockets Seeking Sign-And-Trade for Butler
NBA free agency is less than a week away and the Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of big-time decisions to make. With just four players currently under contract (not including Mattise Thybulle), they are relying heavily on free agency to fill out their roster for the 2019-20 campaign.
Philadelphia’s top free agents hitting the market once the clock strikes 6:00 p.m. on June 30 are Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. JJ Redick will likely be on their radar as well. Butler proved to be one of the team’s most important pieces in the playoffs as a closer. The Sixers, Lakers, and Rockets have been teams linked to Butler in the past few weeks. On Tuesday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski shed some light on a potential scenario for Butler’s free agency.
The Sign-And-Trade
The Sixers will more than likely offer Jimmy Butler the five-year max worth $190 million. But what if Jimmy wants to go somewhere else? That is what the Houston Rockets are working towards. Woj reported that Houston is planning to recruit Butler to try and work a sign-and-trade deal with Philadelphia.
If it comes to this, Butler would be helping out the Sixers in a way. Instead of losing him in free agency for nothing, he could sign and then get dealt for pieces to help Philadelphia.
Once free agency starts on Sunday, the Rockets are planning to recruit Jimmy Butler to push the Philadelphia 76ers for a sign-and-trade deal that would allow the All-Star forward to join James Harden and Chris Paul in Houston, league sources tell ESPN.
The Rockets don’t have the salary-cap space to sign Butler, so they’d need the threat of the Sixers losing him for nothing to a team with the available room to motivate Philadelphia into a trade. The Rockets also would potentially need to make this a multiteam deal to satisfy the rules of base year compensation that would cover Butler’s outgoing salary.
The Sixers plan to be aggressive in signing Butler to a new deal, sources said, and they could blunt a Rockets push with a full five-year, $190 million offer at the start of free agency on Sunday night
Butler is a native of Tomball, Texas, which is less than 35 miles from Houston. If he’s interested in returning home, then this would make sense for Butler. That might be the only part of this that makes sense, though.
Jimmy’s Role
In Jimmy Butler’s time with the Sixers, there are a few things that most people have caught on to at this point. He needs the ball in his hands to succeed. Butler isn’t a guy that is going to pick-and-pop. He will excel off the pick-and-roll and as a team’s closer in the fourth quarter. On a team with Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris, Brett Brown put the ball in Butler’s hands to close out games. That proved to be huge in the postseason. Butler would assume ball-handling responsibilities when Ben Simmons is resting. He would also be in that crucial closer role.
In Houston, the road to touches gets a bit cloudier for Butler. They also have a lot of reported locker room issues there as is. Chris Paul is denying he ever requested a trade while James Harden and Paul’s relationship is not great. Adding Jimmy Butler to that mix may not bode well. Harden is a guy that has the ball the majority of the game. Paul, when he’s not hurt, isn’t too far behind there. That begs the question as to where exactly Butler fits in on the Rockets? Does Houston try to deal Paul after a successful sign-and-trade? Who takes on that $125 million salary over the next three years with CP3’s injury history? There is a lot to figure out in Houston to make this work.
It’s worth noting that the Rockets tried to acquire Butler from the Timberwolves this past season. They reportedly offered Minnesota four first-round picks before Jimmy was ultimately dealt to Philadelphia.
The Return for the Sixers
If the Sixers go through this sign-and-trade scenario, there’s a lot of money to move. Woj mentions in his report that Houston would likely have to include a combination of Eric Gordon, Clint Capela and/or P.J. Tucker in a deal for Butler. If Jimmy does tell Philadelphia he wants to leave and go to Houston, these options are probably better than a lot of the players they could find in free agency. That being said, Gordon is owed just north of $14 million on an expiring contract. Meanwhile, Capela is heading into year two of a five-year, $90 million deal. Tucker is set to make $8.3 million in 2019-20 and $7.9 million in 2020-21.
Gordon could give the Sixers a good shooting option, especially if Harris and/or Redick find homes elsewhere. Capela would be a solid, yet expensive back-up for Embiid. His contract goes as high as $19.5 million in the final year. It would be solid insurance for Joel, but for a team with limited shooting already, it may hinder them from being able to add on the wing down the line if they take on Capela’s contract.
Woj mentions in his piece that a third team will likely have to get involved for contracts to work. That could point towards Philadelphia acquiring a package from Houston and then flipping some of it to another team for perhaps a better fit moving forward.
What This All Means
It’s important to note that Wojnarowski’s report only covers what the Rockets plan to do. There has been nothing out of Butler’s camp about interest in Houston. According to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Butler and Rockets superstar James Harden have been in contact this summer.
When it comes down to it, Jimmy Butler will have to decide where his best chance is to win and what he wants his role to be. With the Sixers, he’ll be given the opportunity to close out games. What would his role be in Houston? If he joins LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers, the same question goes for him there.
Philadelphia was a realistic bounce away from forcing Game 7 overtime against the now NBA champion Toronto Raptors. Returning to the Sixers may be his best chance to win in the coming years and he’ll have the chance to shine when the game matters most.
Whatever happens, this free agency period is absolutely critical for the Sixers. They traded away a lot of draft assets in the Harris deal and only selected two players in the draft. Also, the 2020 free agent class is not nearly as strong as this one.
This summer is going to be Elton Brand’s biggest test less than a year into his career as an NBA general manager.
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