Jimmy Butler has wanted a trade away from the Minnesota Timberwolves. He has been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday afternoon.
Butler and and Josh Patton will join the now stacked 76ers squad. Philadelphia is dealing Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless, Dario Šarić, and 2022 second-round draft pick.
Jimmy Butler warming up before an NBA game this season (Getty Images)
The deal first started to take shape on Friday night before the Wolves tipped off against the Sacramento Kings. Butler is now happy after requesting a trade in September.
Butler was not happy playing with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite being a talented player, he felt like the Canadian was not playing his best effort.
Now, the star will play with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 76ers expect to sign Butler this summer when he’s a free agent.
While he had problems with Wiggins, he may run into problems with Markelle Fultz in Philadelphia. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has not lived up to expectations — and had problems with his shooting despite working on his shooting during the summer.
This signals that the 76ers are now going after it in the Eastern Conference. Right now, everyone is trailing the Milwaukee Bucks.
But Philadelphia is expected to be in the mix at the end of the season, as is the Boston Celtics.
Kawhi Leonard has finally been traded. The disgruntled former San Antonio Spurs trade rumors have been going on for the past several weeks.
Leonard was dealt to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday morning. Danny Green also joins him in the deal.
DeMar DeRozan is seen here as a member of the Toronto Raptors (Getty Images)
In exchange for Leonard and Green, the Spurs are receiving DeMar DeRozan,
Jakob Pöltl, and a 2019 first-round draft pick.
The deal with the Spurs intensified in recent days. Toronto was the only destination left after the Los Angeles Lakers refused to include Brandon Ingram in a deal and the Philadelphia 76ers refused to include Markelle Fultz and
Dario Šarić in a package.
Neither Leonard, or DeRozan are reportedly happy with their new destination. Leonard is saying that he will refuse to play in Toronto, while DeRozan is not happy he’s dealt, as he saying there “ain’t no loyalty” after the deal.
“Can’t trust ’em,” DeRozan said. “Ain’t no loyalty in this game. Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing…”
Toronto is definitely taking a gamble with Leonard. He has one-year left on his current deal and there are concerns with his quad.
The Raptors will reportedly take the same approach that the Oklahoma City Thunder took with Paul George last summer. After spending one season with the team, George decided to remain in OKC.
If Leonard is healthy, he should definitely be able to put up elite numbers.
Leonard, who his teammates questioned his intentions with his quad injury, as Tony Parker said his quad injury was a 100 times worse than Leonard’s. He also reportedly caused a fracture within the locker room.
The former NBA Finals MVP played in just nine games last season. He averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. He spent seven seasons with the Spurs.
Green, who spent the past eight seasons with the Spurs after being his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, appeared in 70 games, including 60 starts. He averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game last season.
He appeared in 520 games, including 464 starts. He averaged 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in his career in San Antonio.
DeRozan, who spent his entire career with the Raptors before the deal, averaged 23.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 80 starts last season. The 80 starts with Toronto last season were the most since the 2012-13 season when he started all 82 games.
In his Raptors career, he appeared in 675 games, including 663 starts. He averaged 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
Poeltl, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Raptors, appeared in a career-high 82 games last season. He averaged 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 25th, 2014 at 9:12 pm EST
There has been two trades at the 2014 NBA Draft so far.
Doug McDermott was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 11th overall pick. A short time later, he was moved to the Chicago Bulls for the 16th and 19th picks.
2014 NBA Draft
Reece Davis, who is a part of the ESPN crew working the NBA draft, said McDermott wanted to play for the Bulls all along.
The complete McDermott deal has Anthony Randolph also going to Chicago for Jusuf Nurkic (16th overall pick) and Gary Harris (19th overall pick) and a 2015 second round pick.
Randolph has bounced around on his career. He began his career with the Golden State Warriors, before moving on to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2010-11 and also made a stop with the New York Knicks that season.
He rejoined the Wolves for the 2011-12 season, before spending the past two years with the Nuggets.
He has averaged 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7assists, and 0.9 blocks in 252 career games since the 2008-09 season. He has made 42 starts in his career.
With the 10th overall pick, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Elfrid Payton, while the Orlando Magic drafted Dario Saric with the 12th overall pick.
Besides Sarc, the 76ers also acquire a 2015 second round draft pick and a 2017 first-round draft pick. The first round draft pick was originally the 76ers, before it was dealt to the Magic in the Dwight Howard blockbuster deal from two years ago.
These two players were then swapped for each other. Payton, who rose up the draft board, will be the replacement for point guard Jameer Nelson.
On June 23rd, Saric signed a three-year contract with Anadolu Efes, a Turkish powerhouse. This past season, he played with Cibona Zagreb, where he averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game.
This contract is two years with a player option for the third year. It also prohibits him from playing in the NBA for at least two years.
The 76ers did not have a single foreign player play for them during the 2013-14 season.
The Philadelphia 76ers used their 10th overall selection on point guard Elfrid Payton.
Michael Carter-Williams, who was at the NBA Draft, was surprised when Sam Hinkie and the 76ers brass made the Payton pick. It fueled speculation that the reigning Rookie of the Year will be moved.
Elfrid Payton (Getty Images)
While Carter-Williams has been rumored to be moved, it was Payton that is moving on. Payton would be later moved to the Orlando Magic for Dario Saric.
The 76ers also acquired a 2015 second round draft pick, and their original 2017 first round draft pick.
Payton came out after three-years at Louisiana Lafayette. As a junior, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.3 steals in 32 games.
He was a late riser up the draft board, and many mock drafts had Payton going anywhere between the 6th and the 8th draft pick. He is the first pick since Andrew Toney, who also played for the 76ers, that was also drafted out of Louisiana Lafayette.
The hit on Payton was that he played in a low major conference, where he did not play against NBA talent on a nightly basis.
The Capital Sports Report 