Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons excited about Sixers addition of Jimmy Butler
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are excited - and optimistic - about the Sixers addition of All-Star forward Jimmy Butler.
"You add another All-Star to the team, definitely," Simmons said of Butler on Saturday night, via ESPN. "A guy like him who can come in, score the ball, veteran leadership, experience -- he's going to fit in here. Our culture is winning, playing together as a team and playing hard. I think he's going to bring that."
Embiid agreed with Simmons that Butler could help the Sixers tremendously, both offensively and defensively.
"I think he's going to help us a lot -- offensively and especially defensively, too," Embiid said of Butler. "I think he's one of the best defensive players in the league. I'm excited to see where he takes us and how much better we're going to look."
Simmons talked to Butler briefly on Saturday, and he said that the two have a similar mindset.
"He said he just wants to win," Simmons said. "I think that's the mindset we all have here. We're excited to get Jimmy in here... Between me, Jo and Jimmy, we all have that similar mindset. We hate losing. That pisses us off. We want to win."
Embiid talked to a couple of Butler's former teammates - Andrew Wiggins and Karl Towns - who think that Butler will be a good fit in Philly.
"They thought that he was going to be good for us," Embiid said. "They thought that we were definitely going to get along. He wants to win. [Wiggins] told me that he thought that we were going to win the East for sure."
Only time will tell if Butler will be the piece that propels the Sixers over the top, but for now, there is no shortage of excitement - and optimism - in Philadelphia.
Follow Michael Kaskey-Blomain on Twitter @therealmikekb.