How Jimmy Butler Compares to the Other ‘Underrated’ Stars
Jimmy Butler is in line for a huge new contract. Whether that’s with the Bulls or not is a different story. But, how does Butler compare to the other under-the-radar stars in line for new deals?
Jimmy Butler’s “betting on myself” quote from this past October was the beginning of Butler’s rise to stardom in the biggest season of his career.
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Not only did Butler make his first All-Star Game appearance, he became the first Chicago Bull to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. The awards were one thing, but Butler’s play was another.
In 65 games during the 2014-15 season, Butler averaged a career-high 20.0 points per contest and shot a career-high 37.8 percent from beyond the three-point line in the new “pace-and-space era” of the NBA.
Butler not only played more minutes per game than any other player in the league (38.7), but only six other players shot more free throws than Butler’s 463 attempts. The all-around game for Butler offensively really took shape with his improved jumper, and his ability to attack the basket with his 6-foot-7 frame for easy points.
After this past season, there’s no question that Jimmy Butler is a future superstar in the NBA. The question now is, which team will have Butler’s services for the 2015-16 season and beyond?
Right now, it seems pretty clear that the Bulls want to keep Butler by any means necessary, which is how it should be. The Bulls drafted Butler 30th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft and Butler has stated on numerous occasions that he wants to stay with the Bulls.
With that being said, how does Butler compare to some of the other two-way stars in the NBA that have or who will sign lucrative deals this offseasons.
I took a glance at numbers for San Antonio wing and this season’s defensive player of the year Kawhi Leonard, sharpshooting Golden State two-guard Klay Thompson and Atlanta journeyman DeMarre Carroll.
Along with Butler, these four young stars are viable candidates for the “All-Underrated Team” in the NBA, but it appears that Butler would be No. 4 on this list in terms of talent, production and notoriety.
Let’s compare the four:
| Player | Field Goal Percentage (FG%) | Three-Point Percentage (3P%) | Two-Point Percentage (2P%) | Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) | Total Rebounds per Game (TRB) | Assists per Game (APG) | Blocks per Game (BPG) | Points per Game (PPG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Butler | 46.2% | 37.8% | 48.4% | 50.2% | 5.8 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 20.0 |
| DeMarre Carroll | 48.7% | 39.5% | 56.7% | 57.9% | 5.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 12.6 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 47.9% | 34.9% | 51.9% | 52.0% | 7.2 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 16.5 |
| Klay Thompson | 46.3% | 43.9% | 48.1% | 55.5% | 3.2 | 2,9 | 0.8 | 21.7 |
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com
Obviously in today’s era, common stats don’t tell the whole story, but Butler’s common numbers compare to those of his underrated counterparts. They all play in different systems, and their games differ in certain aspects, but there’s no denying how important each player is to their team.
To dive deeper into why Butler deserves to be in this category, let’s look at their advanced numbers:
| Player | Player Efficiency Rating (PER) | True Shooting Percentage (TS%) | Total Rebound Percentage (TRB%) | Assist Percentage (AST%) | Usage Percentage (USG%) | Win Shares (WS) | Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Butler | 21.3 | 58.3% | 8.2% | 14.4% | 21.6% | 11.2 | 4.2 |
| DeMarre Carroll | 15.9 | 60.3% | 9.7% | 8.3% | 16.9% | 7.0 | 2.7 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 22.0 | 56.7% | 12.9% | 13.0% | 23.0% | 8.6 | 4.1 |
| Klay Thompson | 20.8 | 59.1% | 5.4% | 14.6% | 27.6% | 8.8 | 2.9 |
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com
It’s pretty telling that Butler’s win share and VORP numbers are higher than everybody’s in the table. It’s hard to put a value on Butler’s game in the Bulls’ current system. Will a new coach alter things offensively? Most likely. As smart as Tom Thibodeau is on the defensive end, there’s no denying his offensive mindset is limited.
In terms of money for Butler and company, all three except Thompson are due to be paid substantial amounts in the coming days.
Thompson received his new four-year, $70 million contract extension right before the rookie deal deadline in October. The thing that differs Thompson from Butler and Leonard’s pending new deals is that it’s not technically a “max contract”. Golden State was able to save some cash due to Thompson basically taking less money, along with the uncertainty of the 2016-17 salary cap upcoming for the NBA.
Earlier this month, CBS Chicago’s Cody Westerlund tweeted out some numbers in terms of what Butler’s deal could potentially be if the Bulls give him a max offer.
Recalculated some Jimmy Butler max contract scenarios -- would be around 5 years, $91 million from #Bulls. I wrote 5/95 million other day.
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) May 15, 2015
It’s doubtful that Carroll will see that high of numbers in his new deal due to Atlanta’s style of play offensively, but Butler and Leonard will both be in the $90+ million category with their new contract. Along with being in a heavy “team first” system like the Hawks, Carroll is the oldest of the four (28 years old), while Butler, Leonard and Thompson are at/under 25 years old.
All four players have huge impacts on their team’s success now and heading into the future. Leonard has already won a title and a Finals MVP, Thompson is the second-best offensive option at the two-guard slot in the NBA behind James Harden, and Carroll was Atlanta’s best player in the final months of their 60-win season this year.
That leaves us with Jimmy Butler, who averaged just a shade under 23 points per game and shot just under 39 percent from deep in the postseason for the Bulls.
The Bulls have many different issues to deal with on their plate this offseason, but keeping Jimmy Butler as the starting two-guard next to Derrick Rose might be the most important matter at hand.
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