The 2019 off-season was a watershed moment for the Philadelphia 76ers as they retooled arguably the best version of the team they had. After building a starting lineup of Ben Simmons, JJ Redick, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid, the 76ers fell to Kawhi Leonard’s miracle game-winner in the 2019 playoffs that caused the team to blow up.
The 76ers would elect to let JJ Redick and Jimmy Butler leave and extend Tobias Harris’s contract while replacing Redick with Josh Richardson. Richardson got to the team because Philly didn’t want to extend Jimmy Butler and chose to sign and trade him to the Miami Heat. Philly would be swept in the first round by Boston in that season.
After Butler’s Miami Heat eliminated the 76ers from the second round yet again, Butler was quite animated about the fact that Philly chose to extend Tobias Harris over him.
“Tobias Harris over me?” 🗣
Jimmy sending a message to his former team
(via @Local10Sports)https://t.co/o63mdgzb2y
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 13, 2022
Butler has previously revealed why it didn’t work out for him in Philly, with a cultural disconnect being the biggest issue. However, Philly didn’t even try to satisfy Butler and keep him around, happily letting him walk that off-season. Joel Embiid loved playing with Butler and questions that decision till today.
Tobias Harris will most likely be moved if Philly can find a trade partner, as his contract extension paid him more money than he can earn through consistent performances. Meanwhile, Butler has made 2 Conference Finals in 3 seasons with Miami already. He will be looking to make it to 2 NBA Finals and possibly his first career championship.
The 76ers have to retool their roster this off-season and give Embiid a better chance to contend. They let his best teammate go without putting up a fight and the decision is looking poorer by the day. At least they have Daryl Morey trying to make sense of this mess left by his predecessor.
