Jimmy Butler's Emergence Can't Be Lost in Derrick Rose's Shadow
We should have seen the rise of Jimmy Butler coming. And we might have, too, had it not been for the understandably acute anticipation of Derrick Rose's return.
But with the Chicago Bulls having mustered a 9-6 record so far, here are the facts as they stand.
Rose has only played in seven of those contests, averaging a respectable but unremarkable 15.7 points and five assists in the process. He's turning the ball over 3.1 times per game and has battled two ankle sprains (and hamstring problems) while attempting to recover his MVP form. It will take him some time to get there—or at least to some approximation thereof.
Meanwhile, Butler is building upon last season's progress with what appears to be a breakout campaign, thus far tallying career-high marks of 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 39.2 minutes per contest. That mark would lead the league but for Reggie Jackson's 39.3-minute average.
The 25-year-old made 18-of-20 free-throw attempts en route to 32 points and nine rebounds in a 114-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, doing what he could without Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and—as a precautionary measure in the second half—Derrick Rose.
"He's been incredible," head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters of Butler after the game. "He's a star, and he does it on both ends of the floor. He's just an amazing player. We've had him play the point, we've had him play the 2, the 3, and tonight he played the 4.
"And he hasn't had any opportunity to practice the 4. So he just got out there, he's smart, he's tough, he does whatever the team needs, and he found a way to help lead us into coming back and having a shot at the end."
For the moment, however, Butler has had to share headlines with Rose's roller-coaster return to relevance—and he probably wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm not a star," Butler told media on Tuesday. "I'm a good role player on a really, really good team. A really, really deep team. I like role players. 'Star' has never been next to Jimmy Butler's name, it never will be. I'll always be just an under-the-radar dog."
His modesty notwithstanding, Butler has become much more than a good role player. And he's going to get paid like one, too.
In fact, the fourth-year veteran's All-Star-caliber play couldn't come at a better time with restricted free agency looming next summer. Butler didn't come to terms on a contract extension with the organization in October, so this season is one last opportunity to prove he belongs in a Bulls uniform for the foreseeable future.
"Why not have a [max contract] be a goal?" he recently told Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver. "When I hear 'max player,' I just think about being able to take my family to Bora Bora or something, going on a nice vacation. Because I don't really pay attention to the money.
"I just love the game of basketball. As long as I'm happy and it's my job, I'm good. Money has never been too much of a thing for me. I grew up without it. I can manage with the amount of money I have now."
Butler will get paid one way or the other, especially in the wake of lucrative deals recently signed by swingmen like Klay Thompson (four years, $70 million), Gordon Hayward (four years, $63 million) and Chandler Parsons (three years, $46 million). Much like San Antonio Spurs forward and reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard (also a restricted free agent in 2015), Butler figures to earn well above eight figures annually.d
Taken with the No. 30 overall draft pick in 2011, Butler will earn just $2,119,214 this season (per Hoopshype.com), the last of his rookie contract—assuming he doesn't sign a $3.2 million qualifying offer next summer (that he probably won't).
Talk of stardom and the dollars that come with it may seem foreign to Butler, but you wouldn't know it from his supreme confidence in himself and teammates alike.
"We've got a team full of NBA players just like everybody else," he recently told USA Today's Sam Amick. "One guy goes down, and the next has to step up and produce. Don't get me wrong. I don't want anybody to get hurt, but we still have a team full of good guys and we can still win games.
"...We're a good team. We play hard. You know, everything doesn't go your way, but we can only control the things that we can control."
Add a team-first mentality to the list of refreshing qualities that set Butler apart from so many of his peers. The defense. His effort without the ball in his hands. A willingness to take the big shot.
They aren't bids for money in a contract season. Nor are they ploys for All-Star attention.
Butler's inspiration is rooted in the attempt to bring another championship to the franchise MJ built.
"I love the city of Chicago. I think everybody knows that," Butler added. "I just feel like I've just got to help win games, man. I want a championship. The money has never been an issue because I'm from Tomball. The money I make now is more than nothing.
"I just wanted to prove to my teammates, to my coaches, to the city, that I'm here to stay."
That's good news for Bulls fans. If his first 13 games are any indication, Butler is poised to remain the first or second scoring option in Thibodeau's offense for years to come. He's making an impressive 50 percent of his field-goal attempts at the moment, including an improved 33.3-percent mark from three-point range.
There's never been any doubt about his defense or willingness to do the little things, but this kind of scoring proficiency makes him a legitimate franchise player. The indispensable kind.
The kind Rose hasn't yet had a consistent opportunity to be. As subplots go, Rose's early ups and downs certainly have some bearing on Chicago's place in the standings. But it's Rose's sidekick who's justifiably stolen the show.
Butler may view himself as a role player on a really good team, and there's probably something to be said for that mentality. But that team has increasingly turned to Butler to do the things stars do. While Rose, Noah and Pau Gasol have all battled injuries, Butler has carried this team.
He might not have been the Bulls biggest story entering the 2014-15 season, but just one month of action has changed all that.
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