On Monday, the trade that will bring Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia will be finalized.
On Wednesday, Butler will likely be in Sixers lineup in Orlando.
In April … well, that’s far less certain.
League-wide reaction to Philly’s decision to send three role players—Dario Saric, Robert Covington and Jerryd Bayless—to Minnesota for the disgruntled Butler was fairly consistent. “Had to do it,” a Western Conference team exec told SI.com. “I saw them as the No. 4 team in the East—and there was a gap between them and the top three.”
Added an Eastern Conference scout, “The team they had was more likely to lose in the first round than get to the conference finals.