The amount of success that the Chicago Bulls may or may not have this season will depend on the play of Jimmy Butler.
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Dwyane Wade stated during his Bulls introductory press conference that this is “Jimmy’s team”.
There were questions and doubts about how Jimmy Butler, Wade and Rajon Rondo will fair and if they will put their egos aside. There still are questions about if these three can work well together.
But, hearing Wade say that this is Jimmy’s team at least shows that he is willing to make it all work. Everyone knows that this is Jimmy’s team, the fans know it, the players know it, and the coaching staff knows it.
With that being said, just how important is Jimmy Butler to this team?
I fully believe that the Bulls have the potential to be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ number one threat in the Eastern Conference. It all depends on Jimmy Butler’s play, though.
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It goes without saying that three-point shooting will be the Bulls’ biggest weakness this season. It’s a bummer because if this team existed 10-15 years ago when shooting wasn’t that important, you could argue that they could be a top-5 team in the league.
Unfortunately, in the present NBA, that isn’t the case and three-point shooting is now the most important asset a player can have.
Right now, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, who both shot above 38 percent from the three-point line last season, are the only respectable shooters on the roster.
Now, what does all this have to do with me thinking that Jimmy Butler could possibly make this team the Cavs’ biggest threat in the East?
Rondo and Wade are both past their primes at this point in their careers. It’s pretty obvious that they will never become good shooters. Jimmy Butler however, at the age of 26, is right in the middle of his prime and can still improve his game. If Butler uses his offseason wisely and can improve his three-point percentage to around 37-38 percent, then the Bulls will have a perfectly balanced offense.
Butler shot 31 percent from three last season. While it is unlikely that he would be able to improve his shooting percentage by 6-7 percent, it’s still possible, considering Butler’s work ethic and his impressive ability to improve every single year he has been in the league.
Hypothetically speaking, if Jimmy Butler can improve his three-point shooting that much, the Bulls will have three shooters on the floor a lot of the time next season with Mirotic, McDermott and Butler, a center that can grab offensive rebounds and get easy points in the paint in Robin Lopez and a point guard that can give players good looks and find the open man in Rondo. Wade’s the final touch with his utility-like play and veteran leadership.
With all of this, the Bulls can score from just about anywhere on the court. You put this potential offense mixed with what I think will be a top-5 defense in the league and you have a team that can give the Cavaliers a run for their money.
But, that all depends on whether or not Jimmy Butler can improve his shooting. If he can’t do that, then the Bulls are going to have a tough time scoring any points on opponents.
Unfortunately, Butler is shooting an abysmal 20 percent from three so far in the Olympics. So it doesn’t seem that he has improved his shooting at all. But, there is still about three months left until the NBA season starts, so let’s not jump to conclusions too soon.