Chicago Bulls Need Perimeter Defender To Take Load Off Jimmy Butler

Has Chicago Bulls wingman Jimmy Butler improved so much offensively that defense should take a back seat?

Jimmy Butler came into the NBA as a purely defensive player, but he started developing a three-point shot under Tom Thibodeau and gradually added different elements to his game. He became serviceable as an offensive player, and then last season we saw him take a leap. He was hitting stepback midrange jumpers, finishing at the rim with either hand at different angles and his three-point stroke had never looked better.

This season, he has somehow improved even more, to the level that he broke Michael Jordan‘s record for points scored in a half over the weekend. Jimmy probably won’t score 40 over the course of two quarters again this year; however, the fact that he did this shows his immense improvement. Butler is now the Chicago Bulls’ go-to option in clutch situations, and this is a development that not many would have predicted back when Derrick Rose was the league’s MVP.

The Bulls now need someone to step up as a perimeter defender so that Butler can focus more of his energy on the offensive end, because he has really opened some eyes about what he is capable of.

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“It was a really special performance,” coach Fred Hoiberg said to the Chicago Daily-Herald. “The left-handed runner off the glass; the 3s that he hit, including that last one that put us up by 1; the crazy step-backs; getting himself to the free-throw line, drawing contact — he did a little bit of everything. When you put up 40 in a half, it’s going to take multiple ways to put the ball in the basket.”

Butler is averaging 21.8 points per game this season, but it bears asking whether he could be scoring more if someone else stepped their game up defensively to allow him the energy and legs to be elite on offense. He has one of the best vertical jumps in the league, and this is what allows him to get off most of his shots. But that athletic ability diminishes over the course of a game as players get more tired.

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Another selection to the All-Star Game will be in order for Butler this year, but the Bulls’ chances in the playoffs will be determined by how many other players can produce in key moments. Chicago’s big men (even the rookie) have really stepped up to the plate this year, but the team needs a lot more help from the guards and wings to be a serious contender. Mike Dunleavy‘s return could solve a lot of these issues, but the Bulls shouldn’t view that as a sure thing at this point. One idea seems certain: Butler needs to be given more of a leash offensively after what he showed us this weekend.