Have you seen Stars Wars episode four? Remember the part where all the heroes are trapped in a trash compactor, with the walls closing in, and some strange creature lurking in the depths? That’s supposed to be what the NBA playoffs feel like.
The playoffs are supposed to be a crucible wherein the fraudulent are burned away and only the hardened emerge. Only obvious superstars like LeBron James (2020), Kawhi Leonard (2019) or Kevin Durant (2018) are supposed to dominate with ease. Yet there’s another archetype of player who quietly thrives in the playoffs.
There are stars who aren’t as complete, aren’t as dominant as some of the greatest players of this generation, yet still see improvement in the playoffs. They’re flexible, able to mold their games to fit the situation. They’re shot-makers, able to create something out of nothing at relatively efficient rates. They’re good at pretty much everything on the court: passing, shooting, screening, cutting. You name it. And as a result they rise above, play better than they do in the regular season.
Let’s call them the under-the-radar superstars. They’re strong enough not only to keep the walls from closing in, but also to emerge better in such cramped scenarios. In a double feature this week on Minute Basketball, we’re highlighting two of the best such stars: Jamal Murray and Jimmy Butler.
We’re getting as nuanced as possible in describing just how these guys rise to the occasion: deceleration, fourth-quarter mentality, passing, and defensive chaos. If you’re here, you’re reading (or hearing!) about Jimmy Butler. You can find our Jamal Murray feature here. But for Butler, read on, and discover the minute yet major angles of his game.
Folk
Slamming on the Brakes
You hang on with gritted teeth through a defensive possession. Your shoes grip, your quads flex, and you keep your feet active to try and keep the gate closed to your opponent. Then it happens. They slam on the brakes and you catch the whiplash. Against Jimmy Butler, your body crumples against his. Butler senses your desperation to catch up and waits, under control, for you to send him to the free throw line. The Grift: Jimmy Butler’s greatest instrument of destruction, and one he wields with supreme confidence.
Since NBA basketball is this flowing and changing game (a game of runs, as it were) players remember what works and doesn’t. Kemba Walker has a reputation as a pretty good charge-taker, and he’s pretty quick to his spots. However (comma) it only takes a few plays of marching Butler to the line, and we’ll see players grant him extra space in everything he does. I mean, Walker tags an already tagged roll man instead of guarding Butler body to body in this clip. Butler lives in the minds of opponents. He sets the terms of engagement.
Butler’s historically great grift (check out that free throw rate) makes defenders hesitant to clamp him in the middle of the floor. And when defenders are hesitant, players like Butler, who dabble in passing to all corners of the court, floaters, eating ORBS, and rock-steady jumpers from below the free throw line, well, they kill you from the middle of the floor. It’s how Butler has given teams headaches all year with hardly any threat from beyond the three point line. He is simultaneously the finisher in the Heat offense and the connective tissue between so many players on the floor.
Cut from marble and quick on the draw, Butler hunts every advantage he can. The middle of the floor is hectic and rough, but nothing changes Butler’s timing. Becoming comfortable with physicality is an underrated aspect of becoming a Superstar. Role players have used it to stick in the league for years. The smartest players in the league (Harden, Lowry, James, Butler) notice the slightest shift in balance and attack it. Maybe the shot falls in, maybe it doesn’t, but they’ll stroll to the free throw line regardless.
A Closer’s Legacy
Striking the balance between taking the game into your own hands and responding naturally to it’s stimuli is tough. Do you rise up over a double and become a shot-maker? Is it about achieving the best shot on the floor, or the best shot for you? A glut of championships won by players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have skewed the public perception towards: “Shoot the f****** ball”. Since LeBron James’ entry into the league he’s been subjected to harsh criticisms for delivering the ball to wide-open role players in the clutch. His success since has helped sway public opinion. So what does Jimmy do? Well, despite the fact that he isn’t as great as any of the aforementioned players, his decision making has been on their collective level.
Butler, especially in the past couple years, has been one of the league’s very best at taking stock of the current in-game situations and making the right call. In the clutch, Jimmy keeps it simple for the most part. If the defense gives him room, he’ll shoot the jumper. If the defense collapses, find a shooter. It sounds simplistic, yes, but it isn’t in the heat of the game. Butler’s cool as you like demeanour and disinterest in the optics surrounding him fuel his role as a pure basketball player. He’ll take what the defense gives, and his talent level allows him to deliver a high percentage of the time.
Having a wing who can punish a defense via the post or the from the top is a surefire way to give a defense fits. Butler slithers into the middle of the floor late in games and wreaks havoc. When he’s attacking off the top he’s a fantastic finisher and isn’t scared to go to the line late in games. When he sinks the defense in the post, they get picked apart. It’s a playoff blueprint for Pascal Siakam to emulate going forward, and Butler has fine tuned that approach to an impressive degree. With him at the helm, the Heat have looked endlessly dangerous in 4th quarters.
And it never hurts to hit big shots.
Zatzman
Jump Passes
Okay, I’m going to cheat a little bit here in the name of parallelism between the double features. Butler does make some jump passes, but it’s not as integral to his creation game as it is for Murray. Instead, this section will be about the jump in passing that Butler has made (get it!?).
Butler’s passing is a symbol of the overall shift in his game. He represents the Heat in general, not just because of the anachronism of his personal brand combining hard work and glamour, but also because his variability on both ends unlocks the very way the Heat play. Butler pivots from center to point guard multiple times per play, on both ends. As his jumper has slowly decayed over the years, he’s made up for it by becoming an elite passer, screener, and finisher. He’s become the maximally evolved version of Ricky Rubio. Think Russell Westbrook who always makes the right decision. Butler’s passing is the lodestone bearing the weight of his offensive dominance.
Here Butler combines the job of smalls and bigs; he dishes a nifty pocket pass in the pick-and-roll and later in the play holds off the larger Jayson Tatum to draw a foul by chasing the offensive rebound.
His assist rate this year jumped to a career-high 28.3, which is 97th percentile for his position, and more in line with numbers for a traditional point guard than a huge, defensive-minded wing. He passes up his own looks, often to the detriment of his personal numbers; the guy loves to pass.
Those skills and tendencies unlock the rest of the Heat. His willingness to shift to a smaller role and set screens allows Bam Adebayo to shift into primary creator mode. His ability to shift away from the spotlight and let Goran Dragic or Tyler Herro feast as the primary scorer, is what makes the Heat so versatile on the offensive end. His pass-first mentality lets the shooters -- Duncan Robinson, especially -- rain fire. He makes quick decisions. He’s a three-tiered scorer -- at least he has been in the playoffs, as he’s found the range from deep. He could average far larger numbers, but that doesn’t interest him. He may not play like a traditional superstar, but he wins like one.
Chaos Redux
As calm and stabilizing as Butler has become on the offensive end, he’s exactly the opposite as a defender. He’s a random event generator, sometimes following the script, sometimes shredding it and tossing it into his opponent’s eyes to steal the ball. Butler may quietly control the offensive end, but he’s as loud as they come the other way.
Butler’s steal and block rates were massive this year, and they only jumped in the playoffs. He’s led the league in deflections in the playoffs. He hawks lanes without jumping himself out of position. And when he is out of position, he snaps his fingers like magic and ends up in a better spot than before.
Butler is able to be in two places at once because of his body control, which Samson noted is also the basis of his offensive game.
But he’s a wild man on the defensive end, making jarring decisions that shock even the viewer; I couldn’t imagine how an offensive player must feel when Butler freelances with force and intuition.
There aren’t many players who can sow such chaos defensively. Those who can mostly play for the Toronto Raptors. Butler would fit in well on the Raptors, but that would be true of any scheme. The Heat trust him to guard any position, even centers. And it’s not a late-clock thing, or a switch that the Heat will live with, grumpily. No, the Heat want Butler guarding centers. He’ll jam the gears, front the post, and probably force a turnover. Similarly, the Heat want Butler guarding initiators, and wings, and, well, everyone and anyone. The point is he’s a defensive weapon no matter where he is.
Remember the 538 article that said a steal is worth -- in terms of predictive ability -- the same as nine points? Butler is the type of guy who makes research like that possible. There are few players who are able to dominate entire games without shooting the ball more than a handful of times. His abilities to create free throws by hitting the breaks, take over late, pass like a point guard, and punish opponents defensive are exactly why.
Largely as a result of Butler’s varied and minute talents, the Heat are one game away from eliminating the favourite Celtics and going to the NBA Finals.
Minute Basketball: Jimmy Butler