7:54 pm: The Sixers have officially signed Butler to a standard contract, the team announced in a press release.
To make room on the roster, Okeke has been released early from his 10-day contract. He’ll become a free agent immediately, without passing through waivers.
5:16 pm: The Sixers are converting Jared Butler‘s two-way contract to a standard deal and will promote him to their 15-man roster, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, Butler is receiving a two-year contract. It will be worth the minimum, since that’s all Philadelphia can offer at this point.
Butler, a 6’3″ guard in his fourth NBA season, was traded from the Wizards by the Sixers, along with four second-round picks, at last week’s deadline in a deal that sent Reggie Jackson and a first-rounder to Washington. This will be the first instance in league history of a team trading for a player on a two-way deal and then promoting him to a standard contract.
A former Baylor standout, Butler averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.3 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game across 32 outings off the bench with the Wizards, posting a shooting line of .483/.366/.778.
The 24-year-old has been part of the rotation in his first three games as a Sixer, earning a start on Wednesday in Brooklyn. He has averaged 10.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 17.1 MPG so far for his new team.
The 76ers currently have a full 15-man roster, but two of those 15 players are on 10-day contracts. Chuma Okeke‘s deal runs through Sunday, while David Roddy‘s runs through next Thursday. Since Okeke’s contract will expire before the club’s next game, it seems likely Butler will be taking his spot on the roster.
Another Sixers two-way player, Justin Edwards, was promoted to the standard roster last week on a two-year, minimum-salary contract of his own — that deal included a second-year team option, which the club could decline this summer in order to re-sign Edwards to a longer-term contract as a restricted free agent.
It’s possible Butler’s new deal will also include a team option for 2025/26, though that’s just my speculation, since we don’t know the full details yet.