Doncic is amazing. And the dude still looks like he’s not even totally in shape!

I’m not sure if the move will change that scenario, but it felt like they were pressed to do something. They can still look for depth when veterans get cut post all-star break like they did last season with Ilyasova and Belinelli. If Butler is healthy and willing to play seriously he’s a top 20 player in the league at the very least, and if it fails miserably they can cut ties with him at the end of the season, or negotiate with him to keep cap space to add another star next summer.

It was a risk, but considering how they’ll still maintain cap flexibility for next year and didn’t give up a 1st rounder, I think it’s a good type of risk to take.

I just don’t get the Jimmy Butler trade. It’s not really a bad move for the Sixers, per se, but removing two decent rotation pieces for a really good rotation piece, while it does upgrade your team, it is still removing two decent rotation pieces from a team whose rotation wasn’t particularly deep to begin with. But I guess it fits in with Minnesota’s super specific requirements of not wanting to officially give up on competing for this season, so only teams willing to give up decent current players would be able to get Butler. Weird.