As a Boston Fan, Jimmy Butler in Philly Terrifies and Excites Me

I want to take a second to thank my roommate Brian for informing me of this trade, and Absolut Vodka for giving me the courage to write this piece. Now, my thoughts:

Well, fuck.

I know I might be overreacting, but what a move for Philly. I have a different point of view of Philly sports than most Boston fans, as I kind of respect them (except the Flyers–fuck them). I think is a great move for the Sixers. I came into this NBA season under the assumption that the Celtics would walk through the East and most likely meet Golden State or Houston in the Finals. I mean, we beat the Sixers in five without our two key off-season signings, and Jason Tatum showed the whole league that he is for real. Despite all of this, though, this Butler trade worries me. I feel like we go one season with him in Minnesota and suddenly we forgot how good he is at basketball.

Yet the question remains: How will he mix with this team? Embiid has clearly proven that this is his team to lead, so I’m not sure how Butler will mix with that locker room dynamic. Personality plays a huge part in the NBA–more than any other league–and to put someone like Embiid and Butler together on a team is the definition of high risk, high reward. If Jimmy can click with his teammates in Philadelphia and remind us all why he was such a big free agent name in the first place, then this Sixers team will give Boston a run for their money. 

I know what you’re thinking: What about the Bucks? The Raptors? Well, they’re still good. They really are, but have they done enough to compete in the East in the long run? I don’t think so. I could be entirely wrong, but my Staff Picks record shows I’m usually not (at least in football). Basketball is all about heart, and this is where mine tells me to go. I still can only see either the Sixers or the Celtics advancing to the Finals out of the East.

As a fan of the NBA in general, I’m beyond excited to see Butler run the court with a solid team around him. I love the way he plays, and when he is able to dominate a court, it’s truly beautiful thing to watch. He’s a young(er) player surrounded by a young team. Sound familiar? Probably because it’s the same way in Boston. Kyrie and Hayward have plenty of years left, and Tatum is clearly the future. This looks like a legitimately competitive rivalry between the Sixers and the Celtics that could stay competitive for many years to come.

Feed it to me. All I want out of sports is a good fucking rivalry. Finally I have a real reason to hate Philadelphia. A seven game series with this team could be all we need to spark a true rivalry, and if both teams stay healthy and continue to grow, we could have maybe the second best series of the playoffs this year (way too excited for Golden State-Houston).

Basically, all this drunken rant boils down to is that we have two young, extremely talented teams in the Sixers and Celtics, who clearly already have the tools to run the East for years and meet in the playoffs many, many times.. Regardless of whether or not you are a fan of either of these teams, if you like basketball even at all, you need to be excited.

Also, no, I don’t think anyone beats the Warriors this year. And that’s all for my first basketball post, which no one should’ve allowed me to do.