Jimmy Butler To The 76ers? Windhorst Teases A Crazy Reunion

The Sixers season is over, and the off-season has begun. Brian Windhorst joined Get Up this morning to tease what they might do this off-season. To many Sixers fans shock and joy, the name Jimmy Butler came up.

The Paul George stuff is unsurprising. His name was connected to the Sixers before this season even began. The thought all along was that Daryl Morey was setting up the cap space to land PG the following season. Jimmy Butler is a pleasant surprise among the other options though.

Sixers fans have wanted Jimmy Butler to return ever since he first left. We saw him lead an inferior Heat roster to the NBA Finals twice. The guy has that special trait that lifts teams up when the playoffs roll around. Something this Sixers team could clearly benefit from.

Obviously it is nothing concrete. Windy said they are monitoring the situation. That doesn't mean Jimmy Butler is available, or that the Sixers would be at the top of the list if he became available.

But before Windy said this, it wasn't even a thought. No one had Jimmy Butler on the list of potential Sixers targets.

As Windhorst pointed out, Butler is looking for an extension. He seems to think the Heat won't be willing to give him that extension. That could easily deteriorate into a trade request. In that case, the Sixers now have trade assets after the Harden trade.

Butler's problem here was Brett Brown. He is long gone. So is Ben Simmons. The only person left from that team is Joel Embiid, and we know those two are good friends.

To the point rumors that Embiid wants to go to the Heat have followed us for the past several years. Why wouldn't he want to play with Embiid again?

Sixers have been looking for that "toughness" since Butler first left. The problem was they could only find it in the form of guys who don't have much actual talent left.

PJ Tucker, Kyle Lowry, Pat Bev. These are guys who gave you nothing on offense. Lowry just scored 0 points in a playoff game. He is old and doesn't have the legs for extended playoff minutes anymore. We saw PJ Tucker provide nothing on offense last year. Pat Bev is in that same boat.

Butler can be your 3rd scorer still though. he averaged over 20pts per game this past season. He can provide what Tobias Harris was supposed to, and be the on court leader that they keep looking for in all the wrong places.

A reunion would make sense. It is just a matter of if it is actually a possibility.

Windy has gotten these things right in the past. It was Windy who first told us that the Sixers wouldn't trade Tyrese Maxey even if Prime Michael Jordan was available. Windy also saw the writing on the wall for the Jazz being broken up before it happened. He tends to be accurate when he starts dropping rumors like this

Paul George is still the likely answer. But now we at least have another name to watch out for.

Tyrese Maxey had a game for the ages Tuesday night. With the Sixers on the brink of elimination, he stepped up to force a game 6. Not only did he score 46 points, and play nearly the entire game, plus OT, but he hit this shot from WAY beyond the arc to force overtime.

They were down 6 points with under 30 seconds to go. Many Sixers fans were already writing their angry Tweets about how the season ended. Little did they know Tyrese was not about to go down without a fight.

First, he hit a 3, despite being fouled by Mitchell Robinson. He went on to convert the 4-point play, making it a 2-point game. They fouled Josh Hart, sending him to the line, where he went 1 for 2, to make it a 3-point game. Then, from what at the time I thought was way too deep and way too early in the shot clock, he unleashed a 3 for 34 feet and nailed it.

I was floored. I was one of those people who thought the game was over. No team ever comes back from a deficit like that. But maybe that was because no other team has ever had Tyrese Maxey.

That was one of the best games we have ever witnessed. Not just for the overall stat line, but for the impact, and the moment it came in. The Sixers were dead in the water, and he brought them back to life. We saw him go from star to Superstar, in real time.

And his performance did not go unnoticed. Between NBA players other Philly athletes, media personalities, and NY Celebs, there were some great reactions to what Tyrese Maxey did.

LeBron James for one was a fan of Maxey's big night. Which is certainly interesting, given the rumors surrounding LeBron. There is a chance Lebron is not in a Lakers jersey next year. Now that we know how big of a fan LeBron is of Maxey, is this a hint?

I am a big fan of Jon Stewart. but seeing him slackjawed and flabbergasted after what Maxey did, makes that moment so much iconic. That is a man who has seen some things working for the Daily Show. But in all my years watching his show, I never saw him look that stunned. The NYC celebrity contingent has been exceptionally annoying this whole series, so it was nice to see them suffer for a bit.

I can handle the likes of Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart, and Spike Lee talking trash. They are super accomplished. But Turtle? The dude is the worst character in his own show, and that is all anyone knows him for. And yet every came I have Jerry Ferrara's opinions shoved in my face as he runs his mouth on Twitter. I haven't even thought of him since Entourage ended, and hopefully I will never hear from him again once this series ends. I could handle Johnny Drama, Ari Gold, or Vincent Chase talking trash. but not Turtle.

So seeing him devastated like this, felt pretty good.

Speaking of Ben Stiller, I dont think I have ever seen someone as angry at a basketball game as he is here. It looks like he is hissing at Maxey. He hasn't been this angry since the reviews and box office numbers for Zoolander 2 came out. Also of note, Tracy Morgan giving Maxey a not-so-kind gesture. Great stuff.

One NYer was taking it a bit better, at least the next day. MSG is a special place. But Knicks fan Greeny was willing to put Maxey's performance up there amongst the best performances in MSG history. He was probably still hurting from seeing his Knicks get beat, but credit to him for giving Maxey his proper props.

Some other Philly athletes weighed in as well. Slay took to Twitter to praise his fellow Philly star. He also made sure to mention that the man needs to be paid. I would not worry about that part Slay. Maxey is going to be paid what he is worth.

Ramona asks a good question here. has anyone else ever done this? Lifted Embiid up while he struggled? In past playoff runs the Sixers needed Embiid to be great, or they lost. Embiid did great things on defense last night, but his offense was severely wanting. But Maxey had his teammate's back, and went off to make up for it.

We never saw Ben Simmons or James Harden do that.

I am not a Mad Dog fan. But I did get a lot of enjoyment from him trolling Stephen A Smith this morning. Smith has been obnoxious with his Knicks love. The fact he was on the ESPN pre-game shows for the games, made it even worse. So seeing him get back what he was giving, was nice to see.