Triple Option

By Michael Maynard

Not even a month into the NBA season, the Jimmy Butler drama has been put to rest. Saturday morning, Minnesota agreed to send Butler and Justin Patton to Philadelphia in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second round pick, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Unfortunately T.O. is still in the amateur stages, so we’re not breaking any NBA trade news in the near future). Butler is expected to make his Sixer debut Wednesday in Orlando.

Butler has agreed in principle to a long-term extension, giving the 76ers a credible Big 3 with Butler, Ben Simmons, and Joel Embiid. Philadelphia is now expected to contend with Boston, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Indiana for LeBron’s vacates throne in the East.

This seems to be the final touch on “The Process.” With all the draft capital and assets Philly acquired after years of tanking, it was only a matter of time before they flipped some of those for a superstar. They also kept their biggest trade chip Markelle Fultz. So Philadephia’s future now depends on Simmons, Embiid, and Butler.

One side note about the process. I’m amazed at the fact the 76ers developed a contending basketball team, even after using significant draft choices Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor–none of whom are on the team currently. And I won’t use the b-word on Fultz yet, but it’s not a good look essentially trading Jayson Tatum for him.

For Minnesota, the sooner Butler was moved, the better. Butler voices his desire to leave Minnesota for a sunnier climate in the summer of 2019, following the footsteps of Paul George, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard of hunting their organization to trade them. Management tensions grew as owner Glen Taylor and President/Head Coach Tom Thibodeau struggled discussing the organizational direction in trading for Butler.

So was the Jimmy Butler trade a total disaster for the Timberwolves? Well, he did lead the franchise to their first postseason appearance in 14 years. With a young core of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins–similar to what Philly has now–it made sense to add an all-star piece to accelerate the trajectory of the franchise.

Being on one side of the argument as a Bulls fan, the consensus is that we are satisfied with the haul we got back, especially with Zach LaVine playing at an all-star level now. Lauri Markkanen flashed big things in his rookie year, and Kris Dunn was been largely barred with injuries, but proven capable of being an effective lead guard in times of good health.

So for Minnesota, where is the franchise without the trade? Well LaVine was coming off a torn ACL that caused him to miss most of 2017. If his production line in Chicago was what Minnesota got from him, they probably don’t give him the $20 million Chicago did, so he walks anyway. Dunn and Thibodeau proved an ineffective match in Year 1 for both of them in Minnesota. Maybe without the Butler trade Minnesota doesn’t go win-now mode and sign Jeff Teague, so maybe Thibs gives Dunn a shot to prove himself year two. The Markkanen loss hurts though. Considering when healthy he has shown incredible offensive upside and even exceeded defensive expectations, Towns, Wiggins, and Markkanen would have made for an appealing core, especially considering Minnesota had to pay up on Wiggins and Towns.

This current haul from Philly now needs to support the core of Towns and Wiggins. Wiggins has not lived up to potential, but Minnesota did sign the former top draft choice to a big extension through 2022. The Butler addition hurt Wiggins as he became a secondary scoring option behind Butler. Wiggins struggled defensively as well, so it became hard to put him on the floor with Butler.

Now with Jimmy gone, Wiggins needs to develop into a superstar player, especially with Minnesota’s grand investment in him. Robert Covington should fit well alongside Wiggins. He isn’t as elite of a defender as Butler, but is not a significant drop off. A 3-point specialist as well, Minnesota should focus on spotting up Covington often to allow more room for Wiggins to operate.

Dario Saric is the other big name going Minnesota’s way. The third year vet out of Croatia has shown his offensive skill set, but isn’t good enough defensively to excel for Thibodeau. He’s projects as the 4th or 5th big man on the roster behind Towns, Taj Gibson, and Gorgui Dieng, and maybe even Anthony Tolliver. It doesn’t make sense to sacrifice Tolliver’s defense for Saric offense, so we may see a lot of Minnesota playing Saric at the 3, which goes against all modern small ball trends.

The 76ers are in win-now mode, while the Timberwolves are taking a step back, probably outside the playoffs in the loaded west. 2018-2019 is now the year of “Can Andrew Wiggins be the guy?” If so, Minnesota should be a factor in the West. If not, then the TWolves are in for a massive setback after the Jimmy Butler era.

Published November 12, 2018 at 9:53 PM C.T.

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