Jimmy Butler’s agent says he remains committed to Sixers as NBA trade deadline rumors swirl

Don’t believe the hype: Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to be traded.

On Tuesday, the 76ers small forward’s name was mentioned as someone looking for a new scenery, two days before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. His agent, Bernie Lee, squashed that rumor before the game against the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center.

“Jimmy is as committed today as he was the day he got traded here as being a part of a championship team,” Lee said. “He looks forward to it being built with him and around him.”

The Sixers acquired the four-time All-Star swingman and Justin Patton from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 second-round pick.

He took averages of 19.5 points. 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a league fourth-best 2.10 steals into Tuesday night’s game with Toronto.

Butler can opt out of the final year (2019-20) of his contract this summer to become a free agent. The expectation, at the time of the trade, was that he and the Sixers would reach a deal on a long-term contract next summer.

That makes sense, because the Sixers got his Bird rights once the trade went through.

The Sixers can offer him a five-year, $190 million max contract next summer. Teams that don’t have his rights would be able to offer Butler only a four-year, $141 million max contract in free agency.

However, he is still trying to mesh with the team’s other two stars, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. And a lot has been made of Butler “aggressively” challenging coach Brett Brown about his role before the Dec. 30 game at Portland.

Brown dismissed the conversation, saying it was blown out of proportion. The two have had an open dialogue all season.

All signs point toward Patton being available for an NBA game sometime this season. The 76ers center, who has been sidelined since September, returned to action at noon Tuesday for the Delaware Blue Coats in a G League game against the Austin Spurs in Texas. He finished with eight points, three rebounds and three steals in 12 minutes in the Blue Coats' 119-108 loss.

Patton, who attended Creighton, was the 16th pick in the 2017 NBA draft, selected by the Chicago Bulls. He was traded that day with Butler to the Timberwolves. He spent most of the season with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. The 21-year-old made one appearance (four minutes) with the Timberwolves as a rookie.

Patton, who was out with a broken bone in his right foot when the Sixers acquired him, has been plagued by injuries during his career. The Timberwolves didn’t pick up his third-year option, meaning he’ll become a free agent in July.