The Sixers have pulled out of Jimmy Butler trade talks and weren’t able to make any progress after initial discussions with the Timberwolves, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic. Amick confirms reports that Minnesota’s asking price for Butler is very high and implies that Philadelphia decided it wasn’t worth trying to meet it.
The Sixers weren’t on the list of preferred locations that Butler gave the Wolves’ front office, but they were among roughly 20 teams that contacted Minnesota once it became clear he was available. Philadelphia is in the market for a third star to team with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and has a variety of assets to offer up in trade talks.
There’s more today from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers didn’t make the big splash they were hoping for this summer through trades or free agency, but the deal that brought Wilson Chandler from the Nuggets should help, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Chandler can play both forward positions and is versatile enough to defend shooting guards. Philadelphia is counting on him to match up with the Celtics’ wing players, who got the the basket easily in last year’s postseason series. “He’s sort of a quiet achiever, but he’s physical,” coach Brett Brown said. “I had players like [him in] Luc Mbah a Moute. Those modern-day playoff guys that can [be] versatile and tough. The Morris twins [Marcus and Markieff] are similar. They can come in and just be very versatile.”
- New Sixers general manager Elton Brand was offered an assistant GM job with the Hawks after the 2014/15 season, he said during an appearance on a podcast with ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Brand opted to wait for another chance to play and eventually signed with Philadelphia, where he got into 17 games the following season, but served mostly in a mentor’s role. That led to a chance to run the organization’s G League team, which eventually landed him his current job.
- All Sixers players were given specific offseason objectives to reach with the goal of making the NBA Finals, according to Sarah Todd of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Those ranged from shooting improvements for Simmons and Markelle Fultz to a weight management plan for 14-year veteran Amir Johnson.
I don’t think the Sixers need a “3rd Star”. They need a really good 3 and D guy. And for Fultz to deliver as a 3/4th scorer. And Smith to recover from his injury and become a very good 6th man. With a presumed starting lineup of Simmons, Reddick, Covington, Saric and Embiid. They don’t need to replace anyone. They need to get an energy/defensive/3pt shooting bench guy or 2. Like they went out and got at the end of last year. Then let them both walk this season