Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose cannot play your-turn, my-turn offense again next year and take away from Fred Hoiberg‘s philosophy of finding the best scoring option. A staggered rotation with Justin Holiday playing alongside either player might be a smart idea.
Slow starts in the first quarter last season was one of the issues on offense that Fred Hoiberg needs to address going into the summer and training camp.
An option that Hoiberg could try next season could be playing Justin Holiday with Jimmy Butler more as a guard tandem and staggering playing time with Derrick Rose. Rose could play with E’Twaun Moore as the other guard tandem and that may improve the Bulls back court production over last year’s performance if both Butler and Rose would accept the roles.
Butler will likely return back to the team and it does feel like a bit of a gamble that Gar Forman is betting his job on. Maybe Hoiberg was asked if he could still turn next season into a playoff run with Butler on board — and being a player’s coach — he may be giving the front office the green light to keep Butler on the team.
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A recent Chicago Tribune article played up the Hoiberg-Butler harmony and it appears that the team will try to adjust with Butler next year.
Looking at the Bulls’ last game of the season against the Philadelphia 76ers (in a practically meaningless game), Justin Holiday and Jimmy Butler played as the Bulls back court with interesting results. Butler was running point and Holiday was playing shooting guard and alternating with each other in that role.
The result: Holiday gunned 29 points, going 5-for-7 from long range, while Butler dished out 10 assists and pulled down 12 rebounds, despite a 4-for-12 shooting night. As an additional insight into that game’s production, Doug McDermott scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Nikola Mirotic scored 32 points on 7-of-11 shooting from three-point range.
Against the same team before the All-Star break (before Holiday was acquired), Butler had to grind out 50 points, but it was E’Twaun Moore, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic who closed it out with triples to put the game out of reach.
If Butler can play a more balanced game and not hog the ball, while trusting his teammates to score, he still fits in Chicago. Even when he has a bad scoring night, as long as he rebounds, passes the ball and plays tough defense as his main contribution, the Bulls can have an easier time winning.
The season finale showed that the Bulls already have all the offense it needs and Butler must accept that. If Holiday pairs with Butler in the back court, Butler has someone to pass to who can convert and also swing the ball to the team’s other knockdown shooters; allowing their development to peak in time for the playoffs.
Butler has to allow things to develop all around next season, where he isn’t the only hero on the team because even weak NBA teams can shut down that kind of offense by just blitzing him on the pick-and-roll or double-teaming him in the paint when he drives.
Justin Holiday showed a lot in just a short amount of time with the Bulls. For the Bulls this year, Holiday averaged 12.4 points per 36 minutes, while shooting 43.4 percent on threes, with 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks. Holiday has the potential to contain other team’s lead guard and can guard off the ball as well.
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Out of any defensive stop, Holiday quickly pushes the ball up the court. He’s a high-energy player who plays intense team defense and complements Butler better than Derrick Rose (who plays passive defense at times, given that he is taking care of his knees, back and hamstring, while reserving his energy for explosive offense).
The Bulls can still start Rose and Butler if Hoiberg chooses to, but more staggered lineups with Butler-Holiday and Rose-Moore can help the Bulls keep fresher legs on the floor for their key cogs of the rotation.
As for Rose and Moore in the back court, those two are better than the majority of guard lineups and may play better when backstopped by a shot-blocking defender who may either be a young center or another defensive wing, whom the Bulls can pick out of the draft.
Two keys to the Bulls winning if they really choose to keep Butler may be having Holiday more as his back court partner and still retool the team with a few more defensive role players to help out in the middle, along with Butler embracing more of a utilityman’s role and let his teammates provide some production on the offensive end.
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If Butler can make the turnaround with Justin Holiday as his back court partner more, he can still work as a point guard, as long he shares the ball with the team’s shooters and allows Rose to handle the ball and control the pace when they do play together.