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The Philadelphia 76ers acquire four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, a shooting guard from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Former Sixer Elton Brand was named general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers on Sept. 20. No one outside of the front office was quite sure how Brand would fit in this team’s power structure.

Was he just a popular former player who will let Brett Brown call the shots?

Or was he truly in charge of the team, as managing owner Josh Harris informed us when he introduced Elton Brand at the press conference?

We saw a definitive picture on Monday when the Sixers officially announced that they pulled off an unexpected deal acquiring Butler, a deal that shocked the basketball world. Brand traded Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a second round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jimmy Butler and seven-footer Justin Patton.  

With the Sixers acquiring Butler, the power shifted in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics were the favorite to win the East, but Philly added a key piece that will give the Celtics a run for their money. The Sixers have a young, talented team with All-Star center Joel Embiid and 2018 Rookie Of The Year Ben Simmons, but Butler is the two-way player that the Sixers organization was looking for. Embiid, Butler and Simmons are the big 3 that could dominate the conference.

Butler already showed out with a dominating home debut against the Utah Jazz on Friday, scoring 28 points while having seven assists and three rebounds.

If it wasn’t already clear, now we definitely know why the 76ers acquired Jimmy Butler.

After the astonishing home debut, Butler kept up the intensity against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. Hornets point guard Kemba Walker had a career-high 60 points on the night, but Butler found a way to spoil Walker’s career night.

With less than 20 seconds left in overtime, Butler made a huge play blocking Walker’s go-ahead shot and saved the loose ball to get his team the final possession. On the Sixers’ final possession, Butler drilled a game-winning three-pointer with just 0.3 seconds left in overtime to stun the Charlotte Hornets 122-119.

Butler showed why he is one of the best two-way players in the game on Saturday night.

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