Anthony Mazziotti
Wow. Elton Brand did the thing.
Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal on Twitter Saturday afternoon.
Sources with @JonKrawczynski: Philadelphia is finalizing a deal with Minnesota to acquire Jimmy Butler.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 10, 2018
Minnesota has agreed to a deal to send Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia for a package that includes Robert Covington and Dario Saric, league sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 10, 2018
Per Shams’ Twitter, the Sixers will send Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 2nd round pick to Minnesota for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton.
Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Minnesota and Philadelphia have trade call with the NBA on Monday to complete the Jimmy Butler trade.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 10, 2018
This is one of the moves that we’ve been waiting for since Brett Brown emphatically proclaimed that the Sixers were going “star-hunting.” With a muddled Eastern Conference (aside from the 11-1 Toronto Raptors) a move had to be made to put the Sixers into true contention; landing a four-time all-star (with the intention of reaching a long-term contract) is a good step forward, even if it means saying goodbye to Saric and RoCo.
Jimmy Butler and the Sixers fully expect to reach a deal on a long-term contract this summer, league sources tell ESPN. Sixers made deal with plans to add Butler to a Big Three with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 10, 2018
The rest of the season just got really, really interesting.
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