By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
The Philadelphia 76ers went into the offseason hunting for stars, but emerged with just a few role player additions. Lebron James went to the Lakers, Paul George stayed in Oklahoma City and the Spurs wanted either Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons for Kawhi Leonard.
NBA preseason action is about to begin and there's one more big name on the market in T'Wolves guard Jimmy Butler. The relationship between Butler and the Timberwolves has gradually worsened and got to a point where young big man Karl-Anthony Towns wouldn't sign an extension until Minnesota guaranteed Butler would be gone. The veteran guard has had poor chemistry with Towns and Andrew Wiggins and reportedly was frustrated with their nonchalant attitudes during the season.
Butler requested a trade prior to the start of Timberwolves training camp last week, giving the organization three teams he would prefer to land: the Nets, Clippers and Knicks. Over the past few days though, Butler has shifted his focus to wanting to get traded to the Heat. Miami is reportedly working hard to acquire Butler, but according to Sam Amick of the Athletic, Minnesota isn't budging on their price tag. He gives the Sixers as an example of a team that was interested, but is completely out of the conversation at this point due to the steep asking price.
All the noise about Jimmy Butler yesterday was about Miami, but it’s clear Minnesota’s price tag remains extremely high. To highlight one rumored team, I’m told Philly is currently completely out of the JB situation and has never had any traction after preliminary discussions.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) September 27, 2018
The Sixers have the young talent and draft picks to get a deal done, but trading for him and signing a 29-year-old to a five-year extension isn't exactly their style. Looking ahead, the organization will have to reserve some funds for Ben Simmons and Dario Saric extensions.
Butler, 29, has the opportunity to sign a five-year, $190 million contract if he agrees to an extension with the team he's traded to. He turned down a four-year, $110 million extension from the T'Wolves due to the amount of money he'd leave on the table. Butler has averaged more minutes than anyone in the league over the past five seasons and has been dealing with some lingering injury issues as well, so capitalizing on his star power now, at the age of 29, is what he's looking to do.
Last season in 59 games for Minnesota, Butler averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists, shooting 47.4 percent from the floor and 35 percent from beyond the arc.
