Let’s have a conversation about Jimmy Butler...

[HacksawJimThuggin]

As a Heat fan, in a vacuum, I think Jimmy Butler is the perfect fit for the Heat culture. BUT with that being said, he’s a max player and naturally the expectations that come with such are different. Ive been adamant all year that this Heat team is good enough to win it all except Jimmy Butler isn’t quite good enough on the offensive end to be the go-to guy when the role players that the Heat have counted on all year aren’t playing well. So, for sake of discussion, my questions are simply the following:

1) Is there another max player in the league that could be the 4th leading scorer on his own team in the conference finals and still be immune to any criticism?

2) Is there another max player and unquestioned leader of his squad in the league that feels like he’s just “one of the guys”? I don’t feel like Jimmy is significantly better than the other main contributors on the Heat on the offensive end. It makes Spo’s job infinitely harder because Jimmy; and even Bam (he’s still young and developing so I give him a pass), aren’t the type of “best players on the team” that will overwhelm you offensively so it’s a lot of just feeding the hot hand. But when that hot hand can he one of 6 guys because your best player(s) aren’t the type of player you can give the ball to and he can consistently get you buckets in one-on-one, it makes it that much harder when the role players aren’t playing well.

 

[CHICAGO]

HEAT WERE A LOTTERY TEAM LAST SEASON.

GTFOH

DUDE HAS LITERALLY IMPROVED
3 DIFFERENT TEAMS 3 YRS IN A ROW
WHILE HIS PREVIOUS TEAMS
ALL GOT WORSE.

THE AGENDA IS SO SEE THROUGH

​

 

[CantStop]

HEAT WERE A LOTTERY TEAM LAST SEASON.

GTFOH

DUDE HAS LITERALLY IMPROVED
3 DIFFERENT TEAMS 3 YRS IN A ROW
WHILE HIS PREVIOUS TEAMS
ALL GOT WORSE.

THE AGENDA IS SO SEE THROUGH

​

He’s not entirely wrong. It’s like he’s so worried about being labelled as a ball stopper and team killer that he’s being TOO passive. He has games where he takes 11 shots, 8 shots. Seems like he’s playing too much into the “team first” guy. Yea when they win it looks good but when they’re losing, it ain’t a good look. Sometimes you need to say fukk that and take over instead of relying on Dragic, Herro and Bam to have great games and taking over the 4th.

 

[HacksawJimThuggin]

HEAT WERE A LOTTERY TEAM LAST SEASON.

GTFOH

DUDE HAS LITERALLY IMPROVED
3 DIFFERENT TEAMS 3 YRS IN A ROW
WHILE HIS PREVIOUS TEAMS
ALL GOT WORSE.

THE AGENDA IS SO SEE THROUGH

​

We also turned off half our roster and literally every single player, to a man, has exceeded expectations. You also didn’t answer my questions. My “agenda” isn’t “Jimmy Butler isn’t good” it’s “Jimmy Butler might not be good ENOUGH” for purposes of the way the current Heat team is constructed. I get they’re playing with house money but now that the supporting cast is playing at the level they are, that’s not something that you just ignore. Dude is the max player and leader of a team on the brink of the Finals and he isn’t a guy you can count on to give you 25 a night. You can say with the way the team plays, it’s a different guy going off every night, but I think it’s more of a result of Jimmy not being a bonafide go-to guy on a nightly basis.

 

[8.TRES]

jimmy gonna be aight, he’s a dog

coming from where he was on the bulls his progression is crazy

i dont want to compare it to kawhi because obviously its levels to it but i remember they used to have similar issues in the beginning of their careers

the heat supporting cast is better than the clippers

theyre on the way they dont need to change nothing

 

[Hersh]

he needs to work on taking 15-20 shots first..

 

[steph_harden]

iunno wtf happened to his jumper. This nikka’s nickname was Jimmy G Buckets back with the Bulls. Had multiple 50 point games...he was an elite scorer back then. I haven’t seen him have those “Chicago” type explosions since he left the Bulls...

 

[rbksNgirbauds]

In short, OP, he’s really the perfect number 2 on a championship squad....and, he lost me money tonight with the whole wannabe MJ ‘get my teammates involved early and takeover in the 4th’ schtick , so, fukk em.

 

[NoHalfWay]

Jimmy Buckets effect as a player is a lot like Chauncey’s to me.

Mostly a clutch player, great leader that leads by example, makes your team better and ready to contend, but they’re not as talented as other top tier #1 options on championship teams

 

[murksiderock]

There's something here...

He's shooting .435/.222 while averaging 18.4ppg this series, thats 2.5 ppg below his postseason average while taking 0.8 more shots per game to his playoff average. Just for reference...

The answer is no, no player of his caliber, a guy who's a 3x All-NBA guy, would be able to skate criticism like this. I think the saving grace is that he's already shown to be greater than what the consensus opinion was of him a year ago---->team cancer, glorified role player, can't be the best guy on a championship team...

He's already blown thru those opinions, so now he's in the honeymoon stage where the expectations haven't been fully raised for him yet. He still could be a glorified, high level role player but this playoff run is showing you can win with Jimmy if the right pieces, management, and philosophy is around him...

I still expect Miami to win Boston. He ain’t gonna be able to get away with scoreless 4thQ's in The Finals though, nor will he be able to get away with not being able to put points on the board on the rare night the rest of his talented scoring teammates can't hit, so the bar of expectation will rise soon enough. Good thing for him is he's shown an ability to step up

 

[CHICAGO]

He’s not entirely wrong. It’s like he’s so worried about being labelled as a ball stopper and team killer that he’s being TOO passive. He has games where he takes 11 shots, 8 shots. Seems like he’s playing too much into the “team first” guy. Yea when they win it looks good but when they’re losing, it ain’t a good look. Sometimes you need to say fukk that and take over instead of relying on Dragic, Herro and Bam to have great games and taking over the 4th.

THIS IS THE MAIN REASON
THE HEAT BECAME A GOOD TEAM.

HE EMPOWERED HIS TEAMMATES
ALL SEASON TO DO THEIR THING
SO OVER THE COURSE OF THE YR
THEY ALL GOT COMFORTABLE IN THOSE ROLES.

DUDE TOOK 13 SHOTS PER GAME
THIS SEASON AND STILL
LEAD THEM IN SCORING.

IF HE CAME IN BEING YOUR TYPICAL BALL DOMINANT STAR
MIA WOULD HAVE NEVER DEVELOPED
INTO THIS.

​

 

[010101]

he is great for the heat team chemistry

he can occasionally go off offensively

but it's not a guarantee

*

 

[Long Live The Kane]

I think considering the level of praise he gets... his criticism, or lack thereof, is apropos...nobody is saying he’s the best player in the game...the fact that he's not that guy offensively is already cooked into how he's perceived...

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

THIS IS THE MAIN REASON
THE HEAT BECAME A GOOD TEAM.

HE EMPOWERED HIS TEAMMATES
ALL SEASON TO DO THEIR THING.

IF HE CAME IN BEING YOUR TYPICAL BALL DOMINANT STAR
MIA WOULD HAVE NEVER DEVELOPED
INTO THIS.

​

It's funny you have this perception, yet don't apply it to Steph v. Dame.

 

[CHICAGO]

It's funny you have this perception, yet don't apply it to Steph v. Dame.

MIAMI USES ITS SHOOTERS
IN THE SAME FASHION AS GS.

DAME DOESNT PLAY IN THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM.

​