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TRADE ALERT: Jimmy Butler Headed To Philidelphia

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The long, heavily publicized falling out between Jimmy Butler and the Minnesota Timberwolves has finally come to a close. The Timberwolves have agreed to send their all-star Butler, along with young center Justin Patton, to the Philidelphia 76ers for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2020 second-round pick. Butler's tenure in Minnesota ends after just over one season, during which the Timberwolves made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. However, growing contempt between Butler and the Timberwolves organization boiled over this offseason, with Butler demanding a trade away from the team. The Timberwolves have struggled early in the season with the unhappy all-star, going 4-9 and have lost five straight games. It was clear the team needed to make a change, with sources saying that coach Tom Thibodeau had decided that the team could not function with Butler on the roster anymore.
While his well-publicized drama and actions may have hurt him in the eyes of some basketball fans, there is no denying that Jimmy Butler is one of the leagues top talents right now.  Since truly breaking out during the 2014-15 season, Butler has averaged 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 46% from the field and 35% from three-point range. Additionally, Butler has been selected to four all-star appearances, two All-NBA 3rd team selections, four All-Defensive 2nd team selections, and won the Most Improved Player in 2015. While he was clearly unhappy going into this season, Butler was still putting up great numbers, averaging 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.4 steals, and a block per game while shooting 47% from the field and 38% from three-point range. Pairing Butler with fellow all-star Joel Embiid and rising star Ben Simmons has the potential to push the 76ers to the top spot of the Eastern Conference, and if Butler stays with the team for the foreseeable future, then Philidelphia could be a serious threat for years to come. Also, they got Justin Patton...so there's that.
While the loss of an all-star will obviously take a toll on the team, this might have been the best case scenario that the Timberwolves could've ended up with. It was clear that the in-fighting between Butler and the team had taken its toll on the team, so getting rid of Butler was pretty much a necessity. On top of that, the Timberwolves were able to get a few solid players in exchange for Butler. First off, they got Robert Covington, a 3-and-D style player who has been a big help for the 76ers over the last few seasons. Since joining the Sixers, Covington has averaged 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 40% from the field and 36% from three-point range. Covington should provide a solid boost on the defensive end for the Timberwolves, who are currently the third worst defensive team in the league. The Timberwolves also added Dario Saric, a solid young player who could easily be inserted into the starting line-up. Saric holds career averages of 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 43% from the field and 35% from three-point range. While he's had a rough start to the season (currently averaging career lows in scoring, assists, steals, and blocks and shooting below 40% from the field), Saric could easily bounce back and could provide help for Minnesota. The Timberwolves also got Jerryd Bayless, who is injured and could be waived, and a second-round pick in 2020, which likely won't provide too much in the grand scheme of things.
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