Why Sixers’ Daryl Morey Mentioned Jimmy Butler in Final Presser

Jimmy Butler was used as an example during Daryl Morey's exit presser this week.

Apr 17, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) drives against / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2024 NBA Playoffs in the rearview for the Philadelphia 76ers, the team’s President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey, addressed the media for the final time before the starting phase of the next season.

Since the Sixers anticipate having a ton of cap space this summer, they are expected to make some major moves to the roster, building around the star core duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

Similar to past seasons under Daryl Morey, the Sixers are linked to some star players who might become available at some point this summer.

So far, the Sixers have been linked to two All-Stars in Los Angeles Clippers wing Paul George and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler. The former has a player option looming, while the latter is under contract and would need to be traded.

Just as smoke started building up around Butler’s name, Daryl Morey ironically mentioned the star forward in his final presser of the season on Monday.

Why exactly? To use him as an example as the Sixers enter the roster-building phase of the year.

The Sixers aren’t going to get much younger right now. With Joel Embiid in his prime and Tyrese Maxey steadily getting better, Philly’s championship window is open. In order to maximize that, the Sixers have to find the best fit for their squad, and players with more experience boost the odds of finding success in the postseason.

“Miami was built around Jimmy Butler who made either the conference finals or the finals four times, five times I can’t remember,” Morey said. “You have to factor in everything, including age. My point is that we can’t use the fact that a lot of those key players are all in one season and now say this is some new thing. In fact if anything, the direction of the arrow on age has been is that it’s less of an impact than it has been in the past.”

Apr 17, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) dribbles the / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

When the Sixers struck and sign-and-trade with the Heat to send Butler to South Beach years ago, he was entering his tenth season. His Miami debut came at 30 years old, and despite the questions surrounding where he was at in his career, the Heat found postseason success during Butler’s tenure.

In his first run with Miami, the Heat were crowned Eastern Conference Finals champions. While they followed up that run on the wrong end of a first-round sweep, the Heat appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals over the next two seasons, with another trip to the NBA Finals.

Miami is still working on breaking through and landing their first NBA title since 2013, but they’ve found far more success than the Sixers in the postseason during the Butler era, proving that a team built around core players in their 30s could be a recipe for success.

That’s not to say the Sixers are going to kick the tires on negotiations to land Butler, as some have suggested, but Morey’s comments make it clear that the team will factor everything while finding the best fit, and age won’t exactly sway them in a different direction if a player is further down the line of their career.

“It’s always about get the best players you can, get a great coach, figure out how to win with that set of players, and then go win the damn thing,” Morey finished. “It’s not about, ‘Hey this new thing is exactly how every, you know.’ We do know you want to be able to shoot more. I think we’ve learned that. That one’s a long trend, going for a long time. But other than that, I don’t see many rules that tell you how to build a contender.”