The Philadelphia 76ers have went through as many emotions as any team since last summer.<\/p>\n
First, there was the excitement of adding an All-Star talent. There was a chance it would be LeBron James<\/a>, who was rumored to have at least a passing interest<\/a> in joining their collective. Jimmy Butler<\/a>, who has history with Daryl Morey and the Sixers organization, was another possibility<\/a>. In the end, they settled on Paul George<\/a>, who was being pursued by multiple Western Conference contenders.<\/p>\n As the season approached, George and Joel Embiid<\/a> made it clear they weren\u2019t planning on playing back-to-backs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then, George got hurt, hyperextending his knee in the preseason. Embiid, who had slimmed down to take pressure off his ailing knee, was taking longer to recover than anticipated. The result was as expected, as the Sixers tripped over themselves coming out the gate, stumbling to a 1-3 record in October.<\/p>\n In November, Philadelphia hit rock bottom as they went 3-11. Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, Jared McCain<\/a>, and Guerschon Yabusele<\/a> played well but that\u2019s about it. George came back in their sixth game only to suffer another hyperextension<\/a> in his eighth game of the season. Embiid returned in their 10th game, but only played in four games before being ruled out with swelling in his surgically-repaired knee.<\/p>\n The Sixers are fresh off their best month, going 9-3 in December.<\/p>\n George didn\u2019t completely catch his rhythm, as he averaged 16.3 points per game, shooting 42.6 percent from the field (33.8 percent from three). Nonetheless, he made strides, scoring 20 or more points on three occasions. The same could be said for Embiid, who averaged 26.0 points per game, shooting 48.4 percent from the field (40.0 percent from three).<\/p>\n However, after opening up 2025 with a six-point loss to the discombobulated Sacramento Kings and a 34-point loss to the troubled Golden State Warriors, it\u2019s clear that Philadelphia is still behind the curve.<\/p>\n On the one hand, the Sixers simply need to add an efficient three-point threat. Whether it\u2019s signing a player<\/a> like Lonnie Walker IV<\/a> or exploring the trade market, it\u2019s a necessity. To that point, the Sixers rank just 22nd in three-point attempts (35.5) and 25th in three-point percentage (.338) in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Yet, Philly also needs to put their stars in position to get easier shots. The chess match between coaches won\u2019t always allow that. However, a player who draws enough defensive attention to consistently counteract their opponent\u2019s gameplan could go a long way.<\/p>\n There are other reasons why making a move for Butler, who has officially requested to be traded<\/a> by the Miami Heat, makes sense. This is the primary one for Philadelphia right now though.<\/p>\n To be clear, there\u2019s no way the Sixers can trade for Butler without giving up a member of their Big 3. Sure, the Heat may not be willing to entertain an offer without one of them being included. Yet, the trade would be unfeasible from a financial<\/em> perspective because Butler will make $48.7 million next season.<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s the deal:<\/p>\n With this trade, Philadelphia and Miami notably swap George and Butler. As George has played well defensively despite his inconsistent offense, this isn\u2019t a loss for the Heat. To that point, Butler has been more efficient than George but hasn\u2019t consistently put his foot on the gas this season.<\/p>\n That being said, this trade gets Butler back with a team that he enjoyed playing for. If his effort is tied to his disenchantment with Pat Riley<\/a>, that should bring the best out of him. It also puts George in better position to help lead with title aspirations, rather than being a constant third fiddle. This should also get more out of him.<\/p>\n The Duncan Robinson<\/a> addition then provides the Sixers with the sharpshooter they sorely need. Alec Burks<\/a> and Josh Richardson<\/a> could help in this regard as well. Notably, both Burks and Richardson have played for the Sixers as teammates alongside Embiid.<\/p>\n At the same time, the Heat get back Kyle Lowry<\/a> and Caleb Martin<\/a>, whose defense and intangibles were valued by the organization. Eric Gordon<\/a> helps a second unit backcourt that doesn\u2019t put much pressure on defenses. KJ Martin<\/a> is a young player with above-the-rim athleticism, which Miami sorely lacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Philadelphia 76ers have went through as many emotions as any team since last summer. What Could Calm The Sixers\u2019 Storm? First, there was the excitement of adding an All-Star talent. There was a chance it would be LeBron James, who was rumored to have at least a passing interest in joining their collective. Jimmy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":115818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1608,16,62,4721],"tags":[2803,142,267,4745,4774,1382,50],"class_list":["post-115797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76ers","category-basketball","category-heat","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-duncan-robinson","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-joel-embiid","tag-nba-injuries","tag-rumors","tag-nba-trade","tag-paul-george"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115797"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115819,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115797\/revisions\/115819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Jimmy Butler To The Rescue?<\/h3>\n
How\u2019s It Going Down?<\/h3>\n
Heat receive<\/em> \u2014 Paul George, Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon, Caleb Martin, KJ Martin\r\n\r\n76ers receive<\/em> \u2014 Jimmy Butler, Duncan Robinson, Alec Burks, Josh Richardson<\/pre>\n