Are Jimmy Butler’s Minutes Sustainable?

Dec 30, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) steps out of bounds attempting to get a loose ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the second quarter at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler is having a career year this season as he has arguably become the second best two way player in the entire league behind Lebron James. It was well documented that during the summer he focused on improving his game offensively by spending countless hours hitting the gym.

Butler wanted to redeem himself after his 2013-2014 campaign failed to yield the results and improvements that many expected to see out of the third year forward out of Marquette. The fruits of his off-season efforts are completely evident this season as Butler has shattered his career best averages in points per game, shooting percentage, free throw percentage and rebounds through 31 games this season.

The soft-spoken fourth year player from Marquette has become instrumental to the success of the Bulls team as a whole. He has commanded the praise of people the league over, and has been awarded several designations for his outstanding play. He was awarded the Eastern Conference Player of the month designation in November and was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the week of December 21-December 28.