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Sixers part ways with point guard Jared Butler, decline $2.3 million team option

Butler is the casualty of a crowded backcourt. The Sixers drafted VJ Edgecombe Wednesday, and Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain under contract for next season.

Sixers guard Jared Butler had his team option for the 2025-26 season declined.
Sixers guard Jared Butler had his team option for the 2025-26 season declined.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

The 76ers are declining Jared Butler’s $2.3 million team option for next season, according to a source.

The point guard averaged career highs of 11.5 points, 4.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 28 games this past season with the Sixers.

They acquired Butler and four second-round picks in a trade from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Reggie Jackson and a 2026 first-rounder on Feb. 6. The Sixers converted Butler’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal one week later. The Sixers picked up Butler a month after he torched them for 26 points and a game-high seven assists in 20 minutes off the bench for the Wizards.

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However, the 24-year-old is the casualty of a crowded backcourt. The Sixers drafted VJ Edgecombe Wednesday with the No. 3 pick in the first round of the NBA draft.

The Sixers also have Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain under contract for next season. Kyle Lowry is expected to return, and the team hopes to re-sign restricted free agent Quentin Grimes. Meanwhile, Eric Gordon and Kelly Oubre Jr. have until Sunday to pick up their team options. Another guard, Jeff Dowtin Jr., is also a restricted free agent. At best, Butler would have been the team’s fourth-string point guard.

Before the trade, he averaged 6.9 points and 2.6 assists in 11.3 minutes in 32 games off the bench for the Wizards. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder is a Louisiana native who helped lead Baylor to the 2021 NCAA championship and was named Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four.

The New Orleans Pelicans selected him with the 40th pick in the 2021 NBA draft and traded him to the Utah Jazz a week later.

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In 148 career games with the Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Wizards, and Sixers, he averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 assists in 13.8 minutes.