Report: Sixers decline Jared Butler’s $2.3 million team option

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jared Butler won’t be back in Philly next year, though.

Now that the 2025 NBA draft is over, the Sixers are turning their attention toward free agency. After news broke earlier Friday that Andre Drummond (unsurprisingly) intends to pick up his $5.0 million player option, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Sixers are declining their $2.3 million team option on Jared Butler.

The Sixers acquired Butler and four second-round picks at February’s trade deadline for a 2026 first-round pick (the worst of the Thunder, Rockets or Clippers’ picks) and Reggie Jackson. It was effectively a salary dump of Jackson to help get them under the tax line along with a half-season flier on Butler and a way to break up one asset (what figures to be a very late first-round pick) into four smaller ones. The Sixers proceeded to convert Butler from a two-way deal to a two-year contract with a second-year team option.

Since Butler has four years of NBA experience, he’s now set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. However, declining his team option doesn’t necessarily spell the end to his time in Philadelphia. The Sixers have non-Bird rights on him, so they’re allowed to sign him to a new contract beginning as high as 120 percent of the minimum salary.

John Hollinger of The Athletic mapped out that exact strategy while previewing the top point guards in this year’s free-agent class.

“He has a team option for $2.35 million, and the Sixers are desperate for inexpensive back-end-rotation talent, but there’s a scenario where Philly declines the option and re-signs him to a longer deal as a non-Bird free agent,” Hollinger wrote.

Since Butler has four years of NBA experience, his minimum salary for next season is slightly less than $2.5 million. Non-Bird contracts can increase by only 5 percent annually, so the most they could offer him is a four-year, $10.6 million deal. The Sixers could also try to re-sign Butler with the minimum exception, although they’d be limited to only a two-year deal at most if they went that route.

Anyone whom they sign to a one-year minimum contract this summer will count as roughly $2.3 million against the salary cap, so there wouldn’t be a huge difference between that and Butler’s starting salary on a new non-Bird contract. In fact, the Sixers could make up the difference and then some if they convince Eric Gordon to decline his $3.5 million player option, even if they intend to re-sign him on a one-year min deal. That would save them roughly $1.2 million, and Gordon would stand to make an extra $165,000 by going that route. It’s a win-win!

Given the tight financial landscape around the league this offseason, it’s tough to imagine Butler receiving much more than minimum-contract offers elsewhere. Don’t be surprised if he’s back in Philly next year and this winds up being just a measure of creative bookkeeping.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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