J
IMMY BUTLER HAS FINALLY BEEN
TRADED. Sixers GM Elton Brand was able
to land one of the most talented players in
the league, making the Sixers a championship
contender in the process. e Eastern Conference is as
stacked as ever following the departure of LeBron James
in the off season, as the upper echelon looks to solidify
themselves in the battle to be Golden State’s challenger
come June.
e impact of Butler’s arrival in Philly can’t be underes-
timated. He’s elite on both ends of the fl oor, fi nishing 4th
in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus metric last season. How he fi ts
alongside the team’s two budding stars Joel Embiid and
Ben Simmons is going to be the main factor in determin-
ing success for the team.
Butler is a player that works best with the ball in his
hands. Last season he had a usage rate of 27.1% and has
joined two players who both have usage that exceeds 20%.
Simmons is more of a distributor by nature and is at his
most elite when dishing the ball out to his teammates. He
and Butler will need to learn each other’s tendencies and
preferred spots on the fl oor to best utilize each other.
e chemistry on and off the court is going to be a
sticking point if the Sixers big three can mesh well. While
Butler’s former teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and
Andrew Wiggins seemed to lack the driving desire that
Jimmy has, his new young duo appears to be more on his
wavelength. Embiid feeds off dominating his opponents
both physically and mentally. Simmons is more laidback
by nature but by no means lacks the required mentality to
make his team a readymade contender.
6 BECK E T T.COM
PHILLY GETS A2012-13 PANINI NATIONAL TREASURES #
JIMMY BUTLER JSY AU/199 RC ($300-$600)
The combination of brand prestige, on-card signature and large patch swatch
makes this the most valuable and desirable of all Butler rookie cards.