The most Sixers consequential contract option decisions due before June 29 do not belong to the team: they will await for word from Kelly Oubre Jr. on his $8.3 million player option — most expect him to pick it up as things stand now — while the overwhelming expectation is that Andre Drummond will do the same with his $5 million player option. But the Sixers also have three team options to make before free agency begins:
| Player | Salary |
| Lonnie Walker IV | $2,940,876 |
| Jared Butler | $2,349,578 |
| Justin Edwards | $1,955,378 |
One way or another, Edwards will be back after what was a stellar rookie season for an undrafted free agent initially inked to a two-way contract. The real decisions to make are with Walker and Butler. Both players had lengthy auditions with the Sixers after their postseason chances had been doomed.
The question: did either player do enough to make the Sixers believe they can contribute to a star-laden, idealized version of the team? The Sixers can keep both, but with a crowded guard rotation already nearing completion, there may only be room for one. Both players have cases:
Note: if the Sixers want to keep Walker, it might be wise to decline his team option and immediately re-sign him for the veteran's minimum, which would save them well over $600 thousand against the salary cap. The only downside of this is that Walker would not be eligible to be traded until Dec. 15, while the Sixers would be able to move him immediately if they just accepted the option. Doing the same gymnastics with Butler would barely save any money and not be worth the trade limitation.
The case for keeping Butler
The Sixers making an extremely rare trade for a two-way player in February was, in itself, a clear signal that the team had genuine interest in Butler as a long-term floor general. In truth, there were other real selling points for the trade: the team shedded Reggie Jackson's salary to create additional breathing room below the luxury tax and flipped a first-round pick with zero upside for a valuable collection of four second-round picks which could all conceivably be picks in the 30s.
Butler's strong chops when it comes to traditional point guard duties represent his greatest appeal; he is striving to prove he can do just enough of the other stuff — primarily three-point shooting and occasional off-the-dribble scoring — to consistently produce at the NBA level.
With Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain locked into featured roles next year and Quentin Grimes set for the same, assuming he is re-signed, the Sixers might not have any guard minutes available beyond their key contributors. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is fond of deploying units with as much ball-handling as possible; the ongoing NBA Playoffs have emphatically affirmed the importance of having multiple players capable of making live-dribble decisions.
Butler made a concerted effort to increase his three-point volume down the stretch of last season, and in the final 10 games of the year he shot 43.6 percent from beyond the arc on 5.5 attempts per game. Butler believes he is a very good shooter and so does Nurse.
Jared Butler knocked down all four of his three-point attempts against Miami on Sunday.
Butler is now 11-18 from beyond the arc in his last three games. In the month of March, he has shot 37.1 percent from three-point range on 4.7 attempts per game. pic.twitter.com/Lt4xL8RawD— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 30, 2025
Most importantly, Butler's organizational skills on the floor stood out, and Nurse is like most coaches in that he puts a lot of stock in the ability to trust a player — particularly at point guard — when it comes to routinely making sound decisions with the ball.
Jared Butler played a classic old school point guard game on Sunday vs. Utah, showing his skill as a pick-and-roll shot creator. He also broke out of a shooting slump with three triples: pic.twitter.com/t4GaCzCHiO
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 10, 2025
As a young point guard capable of stepping in at any time and keeping things running on track, Butler has a chance to be a real asset to a team even if he is not playing rotation minutes for 82 games.
MORE: Butler uses high school QB skills on the floor
The case for keeping Walker
When the Sixers signed Walker on the final day before he had to commit to finishing out the season in Lithuania, the Reading, PA native came in with a reputation: he takes a whole lot of shots, and while that might come in handy for a Sixers team devastated by injuries, it was unclear if he could actually do anything that impacts winning.
The Sixers went 3-17 in games Walker appeared in, so it is not as if he has exactly proven that he can drive any sort of winning basketball. But he showed far better all-around skill than anticipated, and his three-point volume was extremely impressive even when considering the team context.
Walker shot 35.4 percent from beyond the arc on 13.1 attempts per 100 possessions in his 20 games with the Sixers — and that mark jumps to 38.7 percent if you exclude his first three games in which he only made one of his dozen tries as he got his feet under him.
Lonnie Walker IV in the Sixers' loss to Miami on Monday night:
29 points
10-18 FG
6-13 3P
All of Walker's made baskets against the Heat: pic.twitter.com/wgevb3oCuc— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 8, 2025
Conventional thinking is that a high-volume shot-taker is not an ideal fit as a supporting cast member on a team with Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. But players that can get threes up at the rate Walker is capable of shooting them at are rare — and very valuable alongside players that draw the sort of attention that the Sixers' stars attract.
Add that Walker is a bit more versatile defensively than Butler — though he still has a lot to prove on that end of the floor — and there is a case that he has a better chance of helping the Sixers win through sheer shot-making talent.
MORE: Lonnie Walker IV year-in-review
Verdict
While it is worth reiterating that it is not out of the question that Butler and Walker both return to the Sixers next year — and that it is also entirely plausible that neither one is back — it feels like Butler is the more likely candidate if the team ends up choosing one over the other.
This is not to say Walker's case is not compelling, but perhaps his flashes of strong play in the final weeks of the season were a bit too often the results of on-ball opportunities that will almost certainly not be available to him moving forward.
Butler's status as a trade acquisition is meaningful, and his signature abilities are easier to envision fitting into a perfect version of the Sixers: a change-of-pace option if offense is stagnating, a viable leader of smaller units when a wing is sidelined — enabling Nurse to dive into portions of his offensive playbook reserved for lineups stocked with quality ball-handlers — and a player who, above all else, is reliable as a decision-maker.
MORE: Sixers-specific scouting reports of top 2025 NBA Draft prospects
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