Paul George out? Jimmy Butler reportedly could be Joel Embiid’s newest teammate
A Jimmy Butler-Joel Embiid reunion may be on the cards as Philadelphia 76ers enter the Miami Heat's Butler trade sweepstakes.
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Jimmy Butler reunion with Joel Embiid over Paul George is on the cards
Jimmy Butler’s turbulent tenure with the Miami Heat appears to be nearing its end, and teams across the league are watching closely. The Heat have already announced that Butler’s time with the team is practically over, after issuing an indefinite suspension. While a number of teams across the league have shown interest in the Butler sweepstakes, the Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers may be the latest dark horses to enter the race.
According to NBA Insider Vince Goodwill, the Sixers may be one of the teams eyeing the Jimmy Butler situation with a very close eye. At the head of the pursuit for Butler is his former teammate and friend, Joel Embiid. While such a deal seems a little far-stretched, the eye-opening aspect of this trade for Sixers fans would be what they sacrifice to acquire Bulter – in this case, their star acquisition, Paul George.
I’ve heard that Philly quietly could be a suitor for Jimmy Butler…theoretically, it would be a Jimmy for Paul George swap. I believe that Embiid is pushing for them to reacquire Jimmy. George was told by management we wouldn’t trade you year one of this deal.
Goodwill reported
“I've heard that Philly quietly could be a suitor for Jimmy Butler…theoretically, it would be a Jimmy for Paul George swap. I believe that Embiid is pushing for them to reacquire Jimmy.” 👀
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 28, 2025
– @VinceGoodwill
(h/t @dru_star )
pic.twitter.com/q8362nkXTw
A potential reunion between Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid would be an uncanny deja vu for Sixers fans after they saw the duo put together one of the better seasons for the team in recent memory during their 2018-19 campaign. That would be the furthest the Sixers have been in the playoffs during the Joel Embiid era, reaching the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 7.
Their pursuits for a championship would be broken up by a heartbreaking game-winner for the Toronto Raptors by Kawhi Leonard, although the duo would stand out as a brilliant pairing for each other. The Sixers would move on from Butler in the next offseason for financial reasons. Now, they have a chance to rectify that mistake by bringing together both the scorned stars to form a new formidable duo.
What happens to Paul George if the Sixers trade for Jimmy Butler
During the past offseason, the Sixers pulled off one of the most shocking moves of the offseason by acquiring two-way star Paul George through free agency. However, the move has not proven fruitful so far, dampening the expectations the Sixers had set for their newfound star-studded core trio of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
While a major reason for the team’s failures so far, with an 18-27 record in the East, has been their injury woes, moving on from Paul George to the proven pairing of Embiid and Butler might be the move to make for the Sixers. George, who signed a four-year, $211 million contract with the Sixers this offseason, would need to head to the Heat in order for the finances of a deal for Butler to work.
For George, this would come as a great betrayal from the front office, who seem to have assured him that they would not trade him in the first year of his contract, according to Goodwill. However, as a 15-year veteran in the NBA, George would be no stranger to understanding the business nature of the NBA already.
While seeing the Paul George experiment end this early would be a letdown for the Sixers, they may be the best-suited team to accommodate the present demands of Jimmy Butler while also adding a proven functional cog to their system.
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Armaan Gupta
(372 Articles Published)