After signing a $95 million deal this summer, Butler’ role changed dramatically overnight. The former 30th overall pick in the draft will now be one of the main leaders for the Chicago Bulls. After winning Most Improved Player by averaging 20 points per game, he’s expected to take another step in his growth to fit the bill for a $95 million player.
What more can he improve on? He’s shown he can score at will while playing hard-nosed defense on the other end of the court. Going into his fifth season, there is still a lot to work on for the young Bull.
Butler will be thrown in the Fred Hoiberg system as one of the key components to score. The back-court duo with Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose will be the focal point in the offense. Naturally, in a well built offensive system, the key players excel statistically in their roles. So guys like Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler should see their efficiency go up. That said, Butler will also be seeing less of the court. Hoiberg will not overplay Butler every night like Tom Thibodeau did. Jimmy Butler’s scoring dropped down to 18.6 points per game in his PER 36 minutes stats. This tells you Butler’s numbers were inflated due to the minutes he played. With higher effieincy but lesser minutes, Butler will score roughly the same amount as he did before but at a more efficient rate.
Butler also headlined the news this summer as he said he’s a point guard. This doesn’t mean goodbye Derrick Rose. Actually, Butler wants to run the pick-and-roll like some other guards do. Butler said he wants to be a triple double machine, in order to do that he’ll have to run a few possessions as a point guard; like Lance Stephenson did in Indiana.
Regular Season stats: 21.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.7 APG, 47% FG, 38% 3pt FG.
Allstar appearance: Yes
