76ers Rumors: Inside the Decision to Let Jimmy Butler Go in 2019; Ben Simmons’ Role

Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Jimmy Butler’s comments after the Miami Heat’s 99-90 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals have once again brought up questions over his departure from Philadelphia. 

Butler, who spent most of the 2018-19 season with the Sixers after being traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves, was heard yelling “Tobias Harris over me?!” as he walked to the locker room after Thursday’s game. 

Philadelphia signed Harris to a five-year, $180 million extension in the summer of 2019. Butler was acquired by the Heat in a four-team sign-and-trade on the same day Harris’ deal was announced. 

In a Twitter thread about the situation that led Butler to Miami, Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports noted Ben Simmons was “not happy” being used off the ball during the playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. 

Then-head coach Brett Brown “made it clear” to Sixers management he would be OK if they re-signed Butler even though the two didn’t get along, but the team was concerned they would probably have to move on from Brown at some point during the 2019-20 season because of how volatile the dynamic was. 

Even though Butler cited Harris as the main reason he wasn’t brought back by the Sixers, Weitzman noted it was actually the Al Horford deal that is more crucial to the story. 

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports
world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social
feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.