When I saw ESPN’s top shooting guards list coming into the 2014-15 season, I was baffled, enraged, and confused. I gawked, snarled, and hissed. This was admittedly a result of my loyal fandom towards Kobe Bryant, who became the controversial subject topic of this list as he was left off, but I was equally disturbed and completely insulted by the idea of seeing Jimmy Butler at no. 4.
Granted, names like Dion Waiters, Manu Ginobili, and Lance Stephenson especially stand out after this season, but in retrospect, Jimmy Butler now undisputedly belongs on this list, probably even higher than his prior ranking.
In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Monday night, I witnessed somewhat of a revelation for the Chicago Bulls shooting guard. Coming off of his career playoff-high of 25 points in Game 1, Butler went for a new playoff-high with 31 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, including a 14-point fourth quarter.
I mostly attribute this revelation, which really has been ongoing throughout Butler’s spectacular season, to these specific moments from Game 2:
And in case Tom Thibodeau needed to hear it from Butler himself:
Butler was referring to Bucks guard Khris Middleton both times, who was the primary assignment on Butler for most of the game.
This suggests more than just Butler’s recognition of a single match up advantage. When a player acknowledges to themselves, their teammates, and their head coach that their defender can’t guard them, they’ve reached a certain plateau of innate confidence and belief. For Butler, this has accumulated over the course of this season.
I picked Jimmy Butler as my vote for Most Improved Player for the simple fact that I’ve seen him do things at the shooting guard position that I had no idea he was capable of. He went from averaging 13 points per game as an under 40 percent shooter and system role player last season to being a 20 points per game primary scoring option for the Bulls this season. Butler’s ascension couldn’t have blossomed at a better time. His presence along with that of newcomer Pau Gasol made the Bulls less of a heavy Rose-reliant team and more of a potent overall offense. Butler’s offensive savvy improved, from shooting off the dribble to getting himself to the free throw line to making scoring reads out of the post, suddenly we have an elite two-guard on our hands.
Shots like these from Butler are only taken by the most confident and capable wing scorers — the hesitation shuffle step into the three:
This shot was followed by a subtle MJ shrug.
When the Bulls came out of a timeout in the fourth quarter, Jimmy Butler’s number was called. Thibodeau drew up an isolation look for Butler on the right wing where he ripped through and powered his way to the rim with a two-handed finish over Zaza Pachulia. Butler’s and-one dunk capped a 10-0 run for the Bulls in the fourth quarter.
Butler became the fourth Bulls player to score 25+ points in each of the team’s two playoff games (Michael Jordan, Derrick Rose, Luol Deng) via ESPN Stats & Info.
It’s just two games into the playoffs, but Jimmy Butler has arrived. He turned down the $10 million per extension the Bulls offered him before the season, and now they reportedly plan to offer Butler a max deal. There’s much more for Butler to prove in the postseason, particularly in the next round when the Bulls are projected to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers, but make no mistake about it, the Bulls have an elite shooting guard who has arrived assuredly to this postseason.
