Jimmy Butler Scores 14 as 76ers Lose to Magic in Star's Debut
Jimmy Butler's move to Philadelphia did not come with a return to winning basketball.
Terrence Ross hit a three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left and JJ Redick had two turnovers in the final minute as the Orlando Magic earned a 111-106 comeback victory over the Sixers on Wednesday.
The Magic outscored Philly 35-19 in the final frame. Nikola Vucevic led the way with 30 points, while Aaron Gordon had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Butler scored 14 points in his Sixers debut, and Joel Embiid led Philly with a triple-double. However, Embiid made just one of his six shots in the fourth quarter. Redick had 22 points but went scoreless in the fourth, turning the ball over three times.
Moving Markelle Fultz to Bench Will Make Most of Jimmy Butler Trade
Benching Fultz was the only move the Sixers could make—both for themselves and for Fultz's long-term mental health. We've seen Butler's, um, let's just say lack of patience with young players in Minnesota. He's said nothing but positive things in the short time since the trade became official, but pairing him with a second-year guard who periodically forgets how to shoot sounded like a recipe for disaster.
So Brett Brown did the prudent thing Wednesday, returning Redick to the starting lineup and moving Fultz to lead the bench unit.
The new lineup fared well for three quarters before falling apart in the fourth. Embiid opened the quarter with a plus-minus of plus-19 and left it with a plus-two. It was an inexplicable two-way collapse from a group that seemed to mesh well for playing together for the first time.
The Sixers are going to need a more aggressive version of Ben Simmons, who had just nine points, six assists and three rebounds. He more than anyone appeared to be feeling the situation out and took way too much of a backseat to Embiid, who shot an overeager 6-of-20 from the field.
But there's no way this lineup could work with Fultz taking Redick's spot. Redick probably should have been starting since the beginning of the season, and the need for shooting is even more apparent now with Dario Saric in Minnesota.
Leading the second unit could also be good for Fultz, who played hard in an eight-point, three-rebound outing. Splitting his and Simmons' minutes and keeping Simmons with Butler as much as possible should be the move for Brown for now.
Sixers Bench Can't Compete With East Elite
On the other hand, yikes is that Sixers bench lacking in scoring punch. The Sixers got 28 points from their bench Wednesday, and that feels like a solid effort. A group spearheaded by Fultz, Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala and Furkan Korkmaz is striking fear into exactly no one.
Contrast that to the benches in Toronto, Milwaukee and Boston, and it's clear the Sixers are a move or two away from actually entering the conference title conversation. They're going to need to be highly active in the buyout market and may wind up floating a first-round pick in trade talks to fix the bench.
In a vacuum, Robert Covington and Dario Saric for Butler is a trade you make every time. Butler, Simmons and Embiid is as formidable of a Big Three as exists in the East.
But the Sixers did it at the expense of two young pieces at a premium position, and they're going to need to make moves to fix it.
Nikola Vucevic Becoming Interesting Trade Chip for Contenders
Vucevic has been throwing up nightly double-doubles in near-anonymity with the Magic for seven years now. It's wild to think that the Magic might have been the sole "winner" of the 2012 Dwight Howard-Andrew Bynum tradebacle.
Vucevic has his flaws (mostly defensive), but he's a good offensive center who grabs boards, makes heady passes and is expanding his game beyond the three-point arc.
He also has no future in Orlando. The Magic didn't draft Mo Bamba to sit idly on the bench. Bamba isn't ready right now, but he's the future, and Vucevic is a free agent in July. He's playing the best basketball of his career in a contract year and could wind up convincing a team he's a $18-20 million a year player.
Reminder: There's going to be a lot of money going around.
Orlando is 7-8 this season but has no reason to want to be good right now. There are enough teams that need size in the middle that the Magic will probably get offered a protected first-round pick if they float Vucevic for a rental to a desperate team.
